Rape-accused former Bishop of Jalandhar Franco Mulakkal (File Photo) | Photo Credit: BCCL

Thiruvananthapuram: Scathing allegations of trivialising rape have been levelled against a Bishop from Thalaserry who has been caught on camera trying to defend rape-accused former Bishop of Jalandhar Franco Mulakkal. The shocking incident was recorded at a youth meeting held in Kottayam on May 12 where the Thalaserry Bishop was invited to deliver the key address.

In his statement before an audience of young church-goers, the Bishop blamed media for maligning the church's reputation by covering the rape allegations against Mulakkal in extensive detail. He even went further to claim that the media is being paid to defame the church without examining the facts of the case or knowing the truth behind the allegations.

Earlier this month, Mulakkal appeared before a judicial first class magistrate court in Pala of Kottayam district in Kerala. The hearing was preceded by Kerala police turning over a 2,000-page charge sheet and related documents over to the court. The magistrate also heard a bail plea seeking an extension of the Bishop's bail plea and extended his bail to June 7, the next date of the hearing.

In her complaint to the Kerala police, the nun had alleged that she was raped as many as thirteen times by the then Bishop of Jalandhar at a convent in Kerala's Kuravilangad between 2014 and 2016. In the wake of the allegations, the complainant nun along with other nuns who are part of the Save Our Sisters (SOS) Action Council alleged that a smear campaign was being run against them by Mulakkal and his followers.

In fact, one of the sisters even claimed that their lives were at risk and demanded police protection until the conclusion of the trial against Mulakkal. Based on the probe by a special investigative team (SIT), Mulakkal was arrested on September 21 of last year and spent 25 days at the Pala sub-jail before he was granted conditional bail on the grounds that he would surrender his passport, not enter Kerala or exercise his clout to influence the outcome of the case against him.