Bail extended to ex-bishop and rape accused Franco Mulakkal as the trial of case begins

Franco Mulakkal, ex-bishop of Jalandhar diocese, who is accused of nun rape case, appeared before the Kottayam additional district sessions court for the trial of the case, 8 months after the Police filing the charge sheet in the alleged rape case. Franco Mulakkal, the former bishop of the Jalandhar diocese was booked under 4 sections by the Kuravilangad Police of Kottayam in June 2018, under provisions including Section 342 (Punishment for wrongful confinement), Section 376 (2) (K) [being in a position of control or dominance over a woman, commits rape on such woman], Section 376 (C) (I) [(Sexual intercourse by a person in authority] and Section 377/506 (1) [Carnal Intercourse against the order of nature with the victim without consent and criminally intimidated the victim by extending threat court].

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Mulakkal plea accepted; bail extended till next hearing

Mulakkal was arrested by the Kerala Police in September 2018 after the initial investigation and he got bail in October in the same year after he approached the higher court. He was under judicial remand of Kerala Police for 25 days. After 6 months of thorough investigation, including the statements of 84 witnesses and examining the scientific evidence, the Vaikom Dy SP Subash filed a charge sheet which ran over for 2000 pages and the actual trial of the case was stalled by then. In October, the Kottayam additional district sessions court summoned the ex-bishop for the actual trial of the case. It was supposed to begin on 11th of the month, but was postponed since the judge was not available for hearing and the initial procedure of the trial began on Saturday. The counsel of victim nun pleaded to conduct a day to day hearing to complete the trial soon. Meanwhile, Mulakkal filed a plea to extend his bail until the next hearing, which was accepted by the court.

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