Kerala Nun Rape Case: Survivor Moves HC Against Acquittal Of Bishop Franco Mulakkal

On January 14, the Kottayam Additional district court judge G.Gopakumar had given a clean chit to Franco Mulakkal, saying the prosecution failed to produce evidence against the accused

New Delhi: The survivor nun in the Kerala nun rape case has moved the Kerala High Court against the acquittal of accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal by a trial court.

Even as the nun moved the High Court to set aside the acquittal of the accused, the state government on Wednesday granted sanction for filing an appeal against the January 14, 2022 decision of the trial court. A senior government lawyer also confirmed the grant of sanction by the state government for filing of the appeal by the prosecution.

The lawyer also confirmed that the rape survivor has moved an appeal in the high court against the trial court’s decision.

Notably, on January 14, the Kottayam Additional district court judge G.Gopakumar had given a clean chit to Franco Mulakkal, saying the prosecution failed to produce evidence against the accused. Later, the special prosecutor in the case, Jithesh Babu, said that the acquittal would be challenged.

The deadline for filing the appeal is 90 days from the date of the lower court verdict.

Fifty-seven-year-old Mulakkal was accused of raping the nun multiple times during his visit to a convent in this district between 2014 and 2016. He was the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese of the Roman Catholic church back then.

The survivor is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, a diocesan congregation under the Jalandhar Diocese.

In her police complaint lodged in June 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by Franco Mulakkal between the years 2014 and 2016.

Following her complaint, the Special Investigation Team (SIT), that probed the case, arrested the bishop in September 2018 and charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.

The trial in the case that started in November 2019 concluded on January 10.

The court had restrained the print and electronic media from publishing any matter relating to the trial in the case without its permission.

The trial in the case extended over 105 days with 39 witnesses being examined and 122 documents produced before the court.