This is the first time in the country that a bishop has been arrested for rape. "Given the stature of the accused, the police left nothing to chance before arresting him," a police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told IANS. The arrest came after the bishop was questioned for three consecutive days at the Crime Branch office near Tripunithura here.
The victim has accused Mulakkal of repeatedly sexually abusing her between 2014 and 2016. There are five other nuns of the same congregation who have supported her claim. Nuns were protesting in Kochi for the past 14 days demanding his arrest.
"We still can't believe that he has been arrested. We are overjoyed," exclaimed a nun. "We are extremely happy. This happened only because we got the support of the public and also the media," another nun told IANS.
The Kerala government had said the probe by the Special Investigation Team was proceeding in the "right direction" and that justice will be done.
An FIR was registered against the bishop and a 114-page detailed statement was taken from the nun and other inmates of the convent.
The Vatican has, meanwhile, divested Mulakkal, who was the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese of Missionaries of Jesus despite shedding his administrative role, of his pastoral responsibilities "temporarily".
The nun had appealed to the Vatican seeking justice. In a seven-page letter addressed to the Apostolic Nunciature- the representative of the Holy See in India- the victim has described the ordeal she allegedly went through at the hands of the Bishop. The victim also marked the plea to 21 other high ranking authorities of the Roman Catholic Church in India.
The bishop had, however, dismissed the allegations as "baseless and concocted", insisting she levelled those as the Catholic order had rejected her demand for favours.
(With inputs from agencies)