Rape-accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal entering the Pala sub-jail in Kerala (File Photo) | Photo Credit: BCCL

Thiruvananthapuram: A day after nuns with the Save our Sisters (SOS) Action Council threatened an indefinite agitation demanding the immediate arrest of rape-accused former Bishop of Jalandhar Franco Mulakkal, Mirror Now spoke to the lead investigator about the delay in filing the charge sheet which has prompted nuns to stage demonstrations.

On Tuesday, the nuns declared that they will initiate the indefinite agitation near the Kerala High Court in Kochi at 3.30 pm on Saturday. The sisters reiterated their stance against the delay by investigators in filing the charge sheet against Mulakkal who has been accused of confining a 42-year-old nun to a convent in Kuravilangad and raping her multiple times between 2014 and 2016.

Earlier this year, the nuns standing in solidarity with the complainant nun cited a threat to their lives and urged Kerala police to file the charge sheet at the earliest. Officials had promised the visiting nuns that the charge sheet will be filed within two to three days, however, two weeks have passed since the visit and the charge sheet is yet to be filed.

'Save Our Sisters' to lead an indefinite agitation from April 6, in Kochi to protest the delay in filing chargesheet in the #KeralaNunRape case @anjalirkrishnan gets the details pic.twitter.com/iWPqtSGOrW — Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) April 3, 2019

Speaking exclusively to Mirror Now, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Vaikom in Kerala said that the delay in filing the charge sheet is because it is "under scrutiny by the special prosecutor's office". Vaikom DySP Suneesh Babu further said that the charge sheet will be filed "within a week's time".

The nuns also told media personnel that they were being threatened to refrain from testifying against Bishop Mulakkal by the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC). The congregation even sent letters to two of the nuns warning them of dire consequences if they fail to adhere to transfer orders issued to them by the Provincial Superior.

(Save our Sisters Action Council staging a silent protest in Kochi last year)

This matter had come to light after the complainant nun registered a case against the then Bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakkal accusing him of rape. A special investigative team (SIT) was formed to probe the allegations and on the basis of circumstantial evidence, convicted the former Bishop. However, Mulakkal was granted conditional bail by the Kerala High Court after spending close to three months at the Pala sub-jail.

While the High Court had specifically instructed Mulakkal to refrain from asserting his influence over the ongoing investigation, the SOS Action Council has time and again said that they are being pressurised to withdraw their support for the complainant nun. A prime witness in the case Father Kuriakose Kattuthara was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his room in Punjab's Dasoya in October of last year.