After Kerala MLA PC George called the rape survivor nun a ‘prostitute’, the Missionaries of Jesus Congregation has added insult to injury by calling the rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal “an innocent soul” and said he cannot be crucified “based on such allegations”.
In a statement, the congregation condemned the protest in Kochi and accused the nuns protesting in solidarity with the rape victim as being influenced by external forces.
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The congregation went on to reject all the charges against the Bishop and in return pinned the blame on the nun. According to the congregation, the nun was coordinating the bishop’s programmes in Kerala. They further added that nun participated in functions and even received the Bishop at her house even after she claimed to have sexually harassed by the Bishop on May 5th, 2014.
A special team was earlier constituted to investigate the case and according to preliminary investigations, it is reported that Bishop Franco Mulakkal abused his position to repeatedly sexually abuse the nun.
The congregation issued this statement as a reaction to the protest done by the five nuns demanding the immediate arrest of rape accused Bishop.
One of the protesting nuns at Kuravilangadu in Kottayam district said, “We have full faith in the investigation being carried out by the Deputy Superintendent of Police”. The nuns had accused the top police officials of not allowing the investigating authorities to conduct free and fair probe”. They said that the top officials are not giving the DySP permission to take the bishop into custody and do his custodial interrogation.
“They are not allowing him to carry out a free and fair investigation. They are delaying the probe and trying to sabotage the case”. However, the family members of the affected nun said they have full confidence in the investigation being done by the DSP and were planning to approach the Kerala High Court seeking a court-monitored investigation. “We have full faith in the investigation officer,” one of the family members told reporters.
Interestingly, Catholic reformation organisations, including the Kerala Catholic Church Reformation Movement, have decided to take part in the indefinite protest seeking justice to the nun, KCRM office-bearer George Joseph said on Sunday.
We had earlier reported regarding the threats issued to the nun to withdraw the complaint against the Bishop Franco Mulakkal. According to the reports, the investigating officers are facing severe pressure from senior police officers and political leaders.
This incident came to the light when a nun accused the Bishop Franco Mullakkal of Jalandhar diocese of committing rape and unnatural sex with her between 2014 and 2016 on 13 different occasions. The nun had further alleged that she had approached the Syro-Malabar Church authorities over the matter but no action was taken against the Bishop which made her approach the Police.