Kerala rape case: Four nuns who protested against accused Franco Mulakkal asked to leave Missionaries of Jesus convent

Four out of the five nuns who supported the rape survivor nun in the Bishop Franco Mulakkal case have been asked to leave the Kuravilangad convent in Kerala on Wednesday by the Missionaries of Jesus. The congregation, based in Jalandhar, had served transfer orders in April 2018 to the four nuns who had taken part in protests against rape-accused Mulakkal in September last year, demanding his arrest in the case. But the nuns had refused to move out. [caption id=“attachment_5148731” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of nuns protesting against rape accused bishop Franco Mulakkal. TK Devasia[/caption] According to ANI, the congregation on Wednesday reminded the four nuns of the notice of their transfer from Kerala. According to The Times of India, two of them have been asked to join convents in Bihar, and the other two in Punjab and Kannur. This comes after another congregation Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) had sent a warning letter to Sister Lucy Kalapura, one of the five nuns from the Syro-Malabar Church who took the lead in the protests against bishop Mulakkal, for “attending channel discussions” and “making false accusations” against the church leadership, The Indian Express reported. On 9 January, Sister Lucy was issued a notice by her congregation, for leading a life "against principles of religious life"   and the rules of the congregation. Earlier in October, the Kerala High Court had granted conditional bail to bishop Mulakkal, arrested over allegations of repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting the nun. The accused was asked to surrender his passport and not to enter Kerala state except for appearing before the probe officer once in two weeks on Saturdays. With inputs from PTI