Thiruvananthapuram: The group of nuns from a convent in Kuravilangad in Kottayam district, Kerala, who have been demanding the arrest of the bishop of Jalandhar for sexually abusing one of their colleagues, have denied any external influence behind their protest.
The nuns are sitting in protest near the Kerala High Court in Kochi, where numerous people from different walks of life are visiting them and offering support. The protest in now into the fifth day.
“There is no conspiracy or any external intervention”, one of the nuns told a local television channel. “We now feel that the probe might be swept under the carpet. Even the court is also denying us justice,” said a nun, after hearing the court’s observations on Thursday.
The nun has alleged that the Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal raped her 13 times. Her colleagues are pushing for Mulakkal’s arrest.
In another development, the Jalandhar diocese is seeking to investigate the source of the protesting nuns’ funds. The diocese is also reportedly planning to take a note of visitors to the Kuravilangad convent.
Ongoing probe
Meanwhile, the bishop got a breather from the Kerala High Court on Thursday as it said “arrest is not the issue”.
Expressing satisfaction with the ongoing probe, the court observed that since it was an old case, the probe and the investigation will take time and “not the arrest but final punishment of the accused is more important”.
Apart from hearing two petitions on the case, it also heard a third petition seeking a Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) probe into it, and said that at present that would not be granted and posted the matter for next hearing on September 24.
Bishop Mulakkal of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar has been served a notice to appear before the probe team on September 19.
A division bench headed by the Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy, after going through the affidavit of the Kerala Police probe team, said that it was not proper to put pressure on the police as it could hinder a free probe.
A Kerala nun has accused Mulakkal of repeatedly sexually abusing her between 2014 and 2016. There are five other nuns of the same congregation who has supported her claim.
On Thursday, Kottayam Superintendent of Police Harishankar who is leading the probe told the media that variations and contradictions have been found in the statements taken from several people connected to the case.
“I would not say that this has been done on purpose. However, taking into account that the case is four years old, it might be difficult to recall things correctly.
“There are discrepancies in documents and facts that have now come up and hence we have expanded the probe team,” said Harishankar.
An FIR was registered against the bishop and a 114-page detailed statement was taken from the nun and other inmates of the convent.
However, Mulakkal has denied any wrongdoing and termed it a conspiracy against him.
— With inputs from IANS
