Shortly after the additional district and sessions court in Kerala’s Kottayam acquitted Kerala bishop Franco Mulakkal in the nun rape case, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women tweeted in support of the survivor nun, stating that she should appeal in a higher court against the acquittal. Franco Mulakkal, the Jalandhar diocese bishop, was acquitted of all charges on Friday, January 14. For the past three years, the survivor nun of the Missionaries of Jesus convent in Kottayam’s Kuravilangad had been fighting the case against the bishop.
Extending support to the nun, National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma tweeted, "Shocked at the judgment of Kerala Addl. dist and session court. The victim nun must go to high court. NCW is with her in this fight for justice."
Shocked at the judgment of Kerala Addl. dist and session court. The Victim Nun must go to high court . @ncwIndia is with her in this fight for justice.
Bishop Franco Mulakkal, Accused Of Nun's Rape In Kerala, Acquitted https://t.co/Rkhhv9zKaw— Rekha Sharma (@sharmarekha) January 14, 2022
The nun had accused the bishop of raping her 13 times between 2014 and 2016. Despite the nun’s complaint to the Church in June 2017 about the rape, there was no action, and a year later, in June 2018, the nun approached the police and filed a formal complaint. The rape case against the Bishop was registered by police in Kottayam district in June, 2018.
The Special Investigation Team, which probed the case, arrested the Bishop in September 2018 and charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation. Trial in the case, started in November 2019, had concluded on January 10.