Nun rape case: Kerala HC admits survivor's appeal, sends notice to Bishop Franco Mulakkal

Kochi (Kerala): The nun`s rape case took a new twist as Kerala High Court admitted an appeal filed by the state government and the survivor nun seeking to quash the order acquitting Bishop Franco Mulakkal.

A division bench of the High Court comprising Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice C. Jayachandran also issued notice to Bishop Franco Mulakkal.

Earlier on January 14 this year, the Additional District and Sessions Court, Kottayam had acquitted Franco Mulakkal, former head of the Latin Catholic diocese of Jalandhar, from the rape case.

A nun had filed the complaint on June 27, 2018, alleging that she was raped 13 times by Mulakkal between 2014 and 2016 when he was a bishop in the Missionaries of Jesus, Jalandhar diocese.

After the complaint, Franco Mulakkal was arrested on September 21 on charges under 7 IPC sections including rape. The trial in the case began in November 2019. 

According to LiveLaw website, the prosecution has urged that the evidence of the survivor, corroborated by those of 8 other prosecution witnesses and the documentary evidence proved that the survivor nun was subjected to unnatural offence against the order of nature and rape by the accused on different dates for the period from 6/5/2014 to 23/9/2016.

It was when she could not stand the traumatic ordeals and her vow of chastity being destroyed repeatedly that the survivor finally confessed of having been raped by her superior Franco Mulakkal. 

Earlier, Mulakkal denied the charges as "baseless and concocted" insisting that the survivor had made the allegations as the Catholic order had rejected her demands for favour.

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