Kerala nun rape: When media shows rare circumspection and state proceeds as if walking on eggshells

The Kerala nun rape case brings some disturbing realities to the fore. For starters, it depicts the inability of democracy to protect the real minority – the individual – from institutional pressure created by powerful members of an organised religion. The case also depicts the double standards of public morality in India where Hinduism, its gods, godmen and practices can be readily used as a pincushion to substantiate the chatterati’s liberal credentials, but the game changes when it comes to Abrahamic religions. The media shows rare circumspection even in activism, the chatterati goes into a slumber, and the State approaches the accused with all the caution of a man walking on eggshells. The nation’s collective schadenfreude at the netting of a fake baba – even if he commands a million followers – is easily justified. Hinduism isn’t an organised religion that may express an institutional response but no Hindu spiritual leader has validated fakery or detected, in the prosecution against fake godmen, any “grand conspiracy to defame Hinduism”. In the case of Jalandhar-based bishop Franco Mulakkal — a senior and influential member of the Christian clergy accused of raping a nun 13 times over two years and allegedly causing the departure of 20 other sisters from their congregation through his sexual advances — all allegations, FIRs, petitions and affidavit (submitted in Kerala High Court quoting probe that reveals that the bishop had raped the nun on multiple occasions) have proved inadequate. [caption id=“attachment_5162961” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Bishop Franco Mulakkal. ANI[/caption] Instead of coming to the aid of the powerless, the church closed its ranks against the complainant – a nun quite lower down the hierarchical chain – and regrettably tried to shield the accused. The state has done no better. More than 75 days after the complaint was lodged, the ‘predator’ bishop still roams free. The nun has been subjected to five marathon interrogations by the police while the bishop has been questioned only once. A victim of vile character assassination, the nun is now a mental wreck and reportedly scared of meeting people. The police have reportedly taken 12 statements from the victim but only one from the accused bishop. The issue would have remained another dark, buried chapter in the history of such cases were it not for the courage of five fellow nuns, who took it upon themselves to launch an indefinite public protest near the Kochi High Court to the great consternation of the church that tried to bully them into silence. Their and the victim’s struggle finally made its way to the front pages and TV debates – months after the FIR was registered and the nun’s statement was recorded. What makes this case particularly tragic is that in every step of the way, the powerlessness of the individual, the minority of one, has been reinforced. When the individual was facing institutional oppression and sought the state’s help, she was let down again. This could have been India’s #MeToo moment but for the fact that nun’s righteous fight was lost in the labyrinth of vote bank politics. The state government’s apparent heavy-footedness in proceeding with the case has drawn judicial censure but politicians, including those from the Opposition, appear reluctant to be seen with the protesting nuns. The answer isn’t hard to find. The Christian community consist of 18 percent of Kerala’s population. Apprehensions that angering the clergy might affect the votes among the laity seem to have prevented politicians from lending their voice to the cause for justice. Father Augustine Vattoli, one of the leaders of the Save our Sisters Action Council that has lent support to the protest, was quoted as saying in Scroll: “Major political parties have the wrong notion that priests have control over Christian votes… So they never speak against the clergy. This is vote-bank politics.” He added that “the nun filed the complaint 77 days ago, but the government has failed to provide justice to the rape survivor… I do not understand why the police are going slow with the investigation,” according to the report. One politician, independent MLA PC George, has gone to the extent of calling the complainant a prostitute. “Is there any doubt that the nun is a prostitute? 12 times it was pleasure, 13th time it became a rape? Where was she when it happened 12 times? Whom is she telling this to? Why did she not complain on the first time it happened? Let the three sisters be examined. Let us see if they are holy,” said the lawmaker from Poonjar last week. He later “withdrew” his slur but refused to apologise. George’s depraved, misogynist attacks on the nun failed to trigger outrage on a scale that we witnessed during the Kathua rape incident when two BJP ministers who appeared in a rally in support of the accused MLA were forced to resign. In George’s case, the outrage was limited to social media activism that involved sending duct-tapes to ask the politician to “shut up”, a decidedly milder response. Considering the fact that the MLA had not only backed the bishop who is accused of rape but shamed the victim in vilest of abuses to assassinate her character and discredit her charges. It is an old trick in power game. Anupama, one of the protesting nuns, was quoted as saying by Scroll in another report that the MLA’s slur has “shattered” the victim. “She is not eating these days…The verbal attack by the legislator has shattered her. He might have made the statement to weaken her mentally. He might have done this for Mulakkal. He should be arrested for attacking a rape survivor.” The nun said they were forced to go public with their grievance because they have “lost faith in police investigation,” according to the report. George’s insult is best answered by the survivor in a seven-page letter to the Vatican where she accuses the church of shielding the culprit. “I feel the Catholic Church is still doubting my truth over the argument as to why I allowed him to abuse me sexually ‘thirteen times’. I had tremendous fear and shame to bring this out into the open. I feared suppression of the congregation and threats to my family members. At the same time I wonder why the Church is closing its eyes towards the truth when I have mustered courage to stop him.” She also adds: “Though Bishop Franco had sexually abused me several times, I could not reveal to my Superior General or to her Councilors the full story. I only told them repeatedly that Bishop is taking many disciplinary actions through them just because I resisted to lie down with him.” The weight of the nun’s words becomes heavier when we consider the systemic and coordinated vilification she has been subjected to, most heartbreakingly by Missionaries of Jesus, the very congregation that she belongs to.

We condemn 5 nuns protesting with some orgs working against church. Our conscious doesn't allow us to crucify an innocent soul (Jalandhar Bishop) based on sexual abuse allegations by a nun. We suspect nuns have been forced into protest by external influence: Missionaries of Jesus

— ANI (@ANI) September 10, 2018

Our probe found substance to allegations that the nun was in a relationship with complainant's husband. For nuns losing honour is like death. The victim was seen laughing with the bishop a day after when the rape was supposed to have happened: Missionaries of Jesus Congregation

— ANI (@ANI) September 11, 2018

On Wednesday, MJ ramped up the vilification campaign by suggesting that the protesting nuns are getting funds from sources inimical to the Jalandhar Diocese. “It has also come to our notice that some of the people who are participating in the protest are people with some secretive behaviour and the kind of people who in no way are supposed have any relation with nuns… It is necessary to seriously investigate into where they are getting so much money to spend,” said the congregation in a release. While the accused bishop has claimed that he was being “victimised” and it is all a “ grand conspiracy against the church” for reasons that are mysterious and unclear, a leaked audio conversation has emerged that purportedly indicates that a priest is offering bribe to the nun in exchange for her withdrawal of the case. The priest apparently suggests that the Jalandhar diocese is “willing to help them if they withdraw the case,” and offers “land, building, safety and a better ‘posting’ in the diocese in return. The nun, however, refuses the offer and says that she does not “intend to lose any life or sell dignity”,” according to a report in India Today. The nuns, who are demanding immediate arrest of the bishop, have reposed their faith in the judiciary. On Thursday, the Kerala High Court refused to order Mulakkal’s arrest, saying: “Let the police quiz him again. We will hear the case after this.” One cannot but wonder that if a Hindu godman had been in the centre of such a controversy whether the reaction of the state, its criminal justice system and the civil society would have been any different. The answer is blowing in the wind.