Kerala Nun Rape: Bishop Franco Mulakkal sent to 3-day police custody; bail rejected

Rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal has been sent to a three-day police custody till September 24 and the court rejected his bail plea on Saturday. The 54-year-old bishop, accused of repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting a nun, was produced before the magistrate’s court in Pala on Saturday afternoon where the Kottayam Police sought a three-day custody, said sources.

Bishop Mulakkal was discharged from the government hospital in Kottayam on Saturday morning where he was admitted after complaints of chest pain on Friday, they said.

He had complained of pain in his chest while being taken to Kottayam Police Club from the Crime Branch office in Thrippunithura in the Ernakulam district on Friday night, they said.

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He was under observation in the cardiology section of the Medical College Hospital for as many as six hours after his blood pressure shot up, sources said, adding that ECG and other cardiac-related tests were performed. His health condition is said to be normal now.

In her complaint to the Kottayam Police in June, the nun had alleged that Bishop Mulakkal raped her at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and later sexually exploited her on several occasions.

She said she had to approach the police as the church authorities did not act on her repeated complaints against the clergyman.

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However, the bishop has denied the charges. 

The Vatican had on Thursday divested Mulakkal, who was the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese of Missionaries of Jesus despite shedding his administrative role, of his pastoral responsibilities “temporarily”.