Former Bishop of Jalandhar Franco Mulakkal in police custody (File Photo) | Photo Credit: BCCL

Thiruvananthapuram: A special investigative team (SIT) formed to investigate allegations of rape against former Bishop of Jalandhar Franco Mulakkal today filed the charge sheet against him. Investigators have identified 83 witnesses in connection with a complaint by a 42-year-old nun who accused the bishop of confining her to a convent in Kerala's Kuravilangad where he allegedly raped her multiple times between 2014 and 2016.

The charge sheet was filed at a first class judicial magistrate in Pala of Kottayam district in Kerala after the same was given a green signal by state deputy general of police (DGP) Loknath Behara. Inputs suggest that the charge sheet included 25 nuns, 11 priests, and three bishops. Charges of illegal confinement, criminal intimidation, unnatural sex, rape and misuse of power have been invoked against Bishop Mulakkal in the charge sheet. As part of the investigation, as many as 30 electronic devices, including laptops and mobile phones, have also been submitted as evidence by the SIT.

​

Earlier this month, a group of nuns under the banner of Save our Sisters (SOS) Action Council threatened to launch an indefinite agitation near the Kerala High Court in Kochi owing to the delay by police officials in filing the charge sheet. The deputy superintendent (DySP) of Vaikom told Mirror Now that the charge sheet was under scrutiny by the special prosecutor's office which led to the delay. He had also assured the nuns demanding the bishop's arrest that the charge sheet would be filed within a week's time.

In 2018, a nun with the Missionaries of Jesus accused the then Bishop of Jalandhar of raping her on multiple occasions. A SIT led by the DySP of Kottayam was formed to investigate the matter and led to Mulakkal's arrest on the basis of circumstantial evidence. The Bishop was lodged at Pala sub-jail for almost a month before being granted conditional bail by the Kerala High Court. The rape-accused was categorically told by the bench to refrain from exercising his clout to influence the outcome of the investigation against him.

Following Mulakkal's release, nuns living in solidarity with the complainant nun expressed their concerns and even claimed that they feared a threat to their lives. The nuns also claimed that they were being targeted by the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) for demanding the Bishop's immediate arrest. "We were issued transfer orders and asked to report to different states with immediate effect," one of the nuns had told media personnel.