Kottayam (Kerala), Jan 14
A court in Kerala on Friday acquitted Roman Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the charges of raping a nun in a convent here, triggering emotional reactions from nuns who support the survivor, while the jubilant priest urged followers to “praise the lord and be happy”.
Didn’t get justice
We will take forward our fight till our sister gets justice. We didn’t get the expected justice from judiciary today. — Sister Anupama, Nun’s Supporter
Charges false
The other side has the right to appeal. Even if they go for appeal, there is no tension as prosecution charges are false. — B Raman Pillai, Bishop’s lawyer
As the prosecution failed to produce evidence against the accused, G Gopakumar, judge of the Additional District and Sessions Court I, Kottayam, acquitted the Bishop in a single-line judgment. Mulakkal, 57, was accused of raping the nun multiple times during his visit to a convent in this district between 2014 and 2016 when he was the Bishop of the Jalandhar Diocese. The survivor is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, a diocesan congregation under the Jalandhar Diocese.
A visibly relieved Mulakkal, who arrived in the court to hear the verdict, burst into tears and hugged his followers and lawyers after over the verdict. “Daivathinu Sthuthi (praise the Lord),” he told reporters.
In a brief statement issued soon after the verdict, the Jalandhar Diocese thanked those who believed in the innocence of the Bishop.
A group of nuns of Kuravilangad Convent here, who have been standing by the survivor, were on the verge of tears when they said they were yet to believe such a verdict came out from the court and they did not know what had happened. The survivor and her supporters stay in the Kuravilangad convent in this south Kerala district.
Sister Anupama, who was the face of the nun’s fight for justice, said they would challenge the verdict in the higher court and take forward the fight of their hapless colleague.
“We will continue our stay in the convent and take forward our fight till our sister gets justice. Police and prosecution showed justice to us but we did not get the expected justice from the judiciary,” she told reporters.
Criminal lawyer B Raman Pillai, who led the Bishop’s legal team, said the other side had the right to appeal against the verdict. “Even if they go for appeal, there is no tension as prosecution charges against the Bishop are false,” he claimed.
Explaining the factors that worked in his party’s favour, the lawyer said the prosecution case was “very weak, investigation was very poor and statements of most of the witnesses came in favour of the accused because they were telling the truth”.
He claimed the defence team could expose in the court the “manipulation” of a most important document by the investigation team. Investigators, lawyers and social activists who stood with the nun in her fight against Mulakkal expressed shock over the verdict.
Terming the verdict as “very, very unfortunate” and “unnatural”, senior IPS officer S Harishankar, who had led the special investigation team in the rape case, said 100 per cent conviction was expected in the case and the verdict would be an “astonishment” for the entire legal system of the country.
In the case, the survivor was a nun and the assailant was a person who was powerful enough to decide whether she should continue to live or die, he said. “The argument that the woman should have reacted at the time of molestation is unacceptable. An appeal will be filed in the higher court challenging this verdict. The state police chief already gave instructions in this regard and an appeal will be filed as soon as we get a copy of the verdict,” he said. —
Bishop acquitted; nuns to file appeal
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