Police on Tuesday continued taking statements in the sex scandal in which Bishop Franco Mulackal, head of the Jalandhar diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, had allegedly raped a nun belonging to the congregation of Missionaries of Jesus.
While recording the statement of one of the nuns, who is a friend of the survivor, the police were told that she was put under pressure by Fr. James Erthayil, a Catholic priest belonging to the congregation of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI), who had intervened in support of the Bishop.
Copy of voice record
The nun handed over a copy of the voice record of the communication between her and the priest, who had offered her and other nuns land and establishment of a convent exclusively for them.
Meanwhile, Fr. Erthayil has been removed from his posts at the ashram at Kurianad.
He had been functioning as the Prior of the ashram and also as the manager of the CMI-run schools. He has been moved a church facility in Idukki.
The police team led by Vaikom DySP K. Subhash also took statement from Nasser, who had worked for the Bishop as his driver.
According to the police, the driver had corroborated the dates in which the Bishop had visited the various convents of the Missionaries of Jesus during his stay in Kerala.
In the statement by James Mulackal, the Bishop’s brother, it was made clear that the Bishop during his stay in Kerala had used his brother’s car.
Questioning Bishop
Meanwhile, the police have not made a final decision on the date for questioning Bishop Mulackal in connection with the case.
According to the police, Loknath Behera, State Police Chief, is expected to arrive here on Wednesday and hold discussions with senior officers who are involved with the investigation in the case. A final decision will be taken only after that.
