On the night of 21 September, Franco Mulakkal, a bishop with a Jalandhar diocese of the Catholic Church, was arrested by Kerala Police after three days of questioning in a rape case filed by a nun from a congregation he oversaw. The arrest came 85 days after the nun, from the Missionaries of Jesus in Kuravilangad village of Kottayam district in Kerala, lodged a police complaint accusing him of sexually assaulting her 13 times over a period of two years beginning May 2014. With his bail application denied, Mulakkal has now been remanded to judicial custody till 6 October.
Mulakkal’s arrest comes in the backdrop of an unprecedented public protest by five nuns—Anupama, Josephine, Ancett, Alphy and Nina Rose—affiliated to the congregation, for the survivor. It marks the first time in India that nuns of the community have gone public with a protest against their superiors. This is significant in a religious order that stipulates a culture of obedience among nuns and subordination to the powers in the church, who invariably are male priests. Amid the public outcry, on 20 September, the Vatican temporarily relieved Mulakkal of his religious duties shortly after he sent a letter requesting permission to step down for the time being.
During the course of the protest, three petitions were filed in the Kerala High Court seeking action in the case. Following Mulakkal’s arrest, all three petitions have been dismissed with the court stressing on providing protection to witnesses and the survivor.
COMMENT