Kerala nun-rape case: Charge sheet filed against Bishop Franco Mulakkal

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 09: Kerala police has filed a charge sheet against Franco Mulakkal, a former Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese, who is accused of raping a nun.

The chargesheet, which is 74-pages long, was submitted before the Pala Magistrate Court, Mathrubhumi reported.

There were 84 eyewitnesses, while 11 priests, 24 nuns and three bishops have been quoted in the chargesheet. The charges against the bishop include illegal confinement, rape, unnatural sex, detention of woman, and repeated sexual abuse of the same woman.

Bishop Mulakkal, a senior member of the Roman Catholic clergy in India, was arrested last year following allegations by a nun that he repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted her at the Kuravilangad convent between 2014 and 2016, a charge denied by him.

The nun has accused the clergyman of repeated sexual assault between 2014 and 2016. The bishop has, however, dismissed the allegations as "baseless and concocted", insisting she levelled charges against the catholic order as it had rejected her demand for favours.