Bishop Franco Mulakkal acquitted in Kerala nun rape case after 26 months of trial

In a sensational development, an Additional Sessions Court in Kottayam on Friday acquitted Bishop Franco Mulakkal in the 2018 Kerala nun rape case. After 26 months of trial, the Kerala court had found Franco Mulakkal not guilty of raping a nun from the Missionaries of Jesus convent in Kuravilangad. The survivor had rocked the Catholic Church after she alleged that Franco raped her 13 times during his visits to the convent between 2014 and 2016.

The rape case against the Bishop was registered by police in Kottayam district in 2018, while it began in November 2019. The court had concluded the hearing on January 10 and reserved its verdict in the case of the alleged rape of a nun by the controversial bishop. It was an in-camera trial and the media was prohibited from reporting details about the trial, as per Bishop Franco’s counsel’s request.

In her complaint to the police in June 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by Franco, then Bishop of the Jalandhar, diocese of Roman Catholic Church, between 2014 and 2016. The Special Investigation Team which probed the case arrested the Bishop and charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.

If Bishop Franco is found guilty of the crime, he would have faced a minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment.

Image: PTI