Kerala sexual assault case: NCW summons Poonjar MLA PC George for terming nun who filed complaint a 'prostitute'

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday summoned PC George , an independent MLA from the Poonjar constituency in Kerala’s Kottayam district and asked him to appear before it. The panel took suo motu cognisance of media reports about derogatory statements made by him about a nun who accused the Bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakkal of rape.

.@NCWIndia has summoned Shri P.C George to appear before the Commission.@MinistryWCD @Manekagandhibjp @sharmarekha @ANI @PTI_News

3/n

— NCW (@NCWIndia) September 10, 2018

George had stoked a controversy after he commented on the case saying, “No one has doubt that the nun is a prostitute. She enjoyed it 12 times, and the 13th time it is rape? Why didn’t she complain the first time?” The Kerala Mahila Federation on Sunday hit out at George for calling the rape victim a “prostitute” and demanded action against him. Indira Raveendran, vice-president of the federation said, “We all know that this MLA is a controversial figure. Of course, he sometimes speaks the truth…but for this disparaging comment, a case should be registered against him immediately for abusing womanhood. [caption id=“attachment_5154371” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of MLA PC George. News18[/caption] Other than Raveendran, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja and, CPM leader Subhashini Ali condemned George’s remark. “I strongly condemn this statement. I hope all democratic forces in the state of Kerala will condemn this statement in all possible strongest terms. This is not the way to speak. The nuns are agitating. Instead of addressing the issues, he is referring to the nun like this. It is atrocious. The law must take its course in Kerala,” Raja said. On Saturday, a group of nuns staged a sit-in protest, called by Joint Christian Council at the High Court Junction bus station in Kochi demanding Mulakkal’s arrest. “We are not getting justice from the police, church authorities and the government. That is why we thought of conducting this protest. If the accused would have been a layman, then they would have arrested him easily,” a nun said. Earlier in June, a case was registered against four priests of Malankara Orthodox Church for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in Kottayam district. The issue came to light when the victim’s husband recovered an audio clip related to the incident. The church initiated an investigation and suspended all the priests after a complaint was filed. One of the four priests later surrendered to the police on 12 July. With inputs from ANI