The Missionaries of Jesus congregation of Jalandhar met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Wednesday and complained against the police team probing the case of alleged rape of a nun by a Roman Catholic bishop. Fifteen nuns from the Jalandhar congregation came in support of the accused bishop Franco Mulakkal, a senior member of the country’s Roman Catholic clergy, and alleged that the police investigation into the case was “biased.”
Bishop Mulakkal was arrested on September 21 amid mounting public outrage over allegations of repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting the nun.
“The bishop has been arrested without any evidence. He is a victim of a witch-hunt to tarnish the image of the Missionaries of Jesus,” the nuns alleged. They said the probe team was threatening those who came out in support of the bishop. The nuns also alleged that the investigating team was intruding into the convents without notice.
A magisterial court in Kerala had on September 24 remanded the Kerala priest in 12-day judicial custody. In remand report, the police had said the victim was subjected to rape 13 times by the accused between 2014 and 2016.
