Kochi: The police on Monday told Kerala High Court that it has collected evidence to prove that Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal abused his official position and raped a nun between May 6, 2014 and September 23, 2016 in a Kuravilangad convent even as the investigation team questioned the rape-accused for over an hour in his Jalandhar office.
The police gave the details of the investigation to a single bench of the high court which was considering a petition filed by Kerala Catholic Reforms Movement demanding the immediate arrest of the bishop and a court-monitored investigation. The court rejected both the demands and expressed satisfaction over investigation. That the bishop has not been arrested does not mean that the probe is not in the right direction, the court said. The investigating officer has the authority to decide on the arrest and need not take the permission of his seniors for it, the court opined.
The petitioner had contended that the probe is conducted in a secret manner and the public is unaware of it. The court, however, observed that secrecy must be kept in investigation.
Investigating officer deputy superintendent of police K. Subhash in his submission said the bishop subjected her to sexual abuse, including unnatural sex, at guest room no, 20 at Kuruvilangad convent. The doctor who examined the nun confirmed that she was raped, the submission said.
The statement of the nun was recorded on June 28 while the Changanassery judicial magistrate recorded her secret statement on July 5 where she said that the bishop had subjected her to sexual abuse several times. The police has questioned several people including Pala Bishop.
The six-member police team which reached Delhi on August 3 and Jalandhar on August 11, started questioning the bishop late on Monday evening after Punjab police deployed armed police personnel in front of the bishop’s house even as supporters of the bishop protested against the media for taking his photographs. There were also reports that the protestors broke cameras of several photo journalists.
