E-Paper
Ex-Bishop accused of rape gets no relief from high court, goes to jail
Franco Mullakal was arrested last week by the police after questioning him for three days.
Franco Mullakal, the former Jalandhar Bishop arrested on charges of raping a nun, has been sent to prison after the Kerala High Court deferred his bail application to Thursday.
Mullakal was arrested last week by the police after questioning him for three days. He was briefly admitted to hospital after he complained of uneasiness and was later questioned by the police for two more days.
Earlier on Monday, a Kottayam court had ordered the former Bishop to jail till October 6.
In June, the 43-year-old nun, also a mother superior, had complained to the police that Mullakkal had raped her 13 times between 2014 and 2016. The nun is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation based in Punjab which also runs three convents in Kerala.
Mullakal has been accused of wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural offence and criminal intimidation.
Prosecutors say the police have taken statements of 81 witnesses in the case and number may go up.
Mullakal had earlier approached the high court for protection against arrest but the court declined to either direct the police to arrest him as demanded by some petitioners or grant him anticipatory bail.
The police initially told the high court that it hadn’t made up its mind on arresting him since there were contradictions in statements of many witnesses. It, however, appears to have changed its mind after questioning him for three days last week.
“The investigating officer has a reached a reasonable conclusion that there is evidence in this case and we have arrested him,” said Kottayam district police chief S Hari Shankar told reporters announcing the decision to arrest Mullakal.
