In the nun rape case, a Kerala court acquitted Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal on Friday. Franco was able to walk free due to the decision of Kottayam Additional District Court Judge G.Gopakumar.
The trial lasted 105 days, with 39 witnesses testifying and 122 documents being presented to the court.
He was accused of raping a nun from the Missionaries of Jesus convent while serving as Bishop of the Jalandhar Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church.
He was accused of rapping the 43-year-old nun 13 times during his travels to Kerala between 2014 and 2016. Later, he was removed from the Jalandhar diocese’s authority.
Mulakkal was arrested on rape accusations on September 21, 2018, after a complaint was lodged against him in Kerala in June 2018.
On October 16, 2018, he was granted bail. The charging sheet names 83 witnesses, including Cardinal Mar George Alencherry of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, three bishops, 11 priests, and 22 nuns. Only 39 of the 83 witnesses were called and heard.
Franco had petitioned both the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court to have the FIR against him dismissed, but both courts were unsuccessful, and the trial commenced.
Meanwhile, former Kottayam SP of Police Harisankar, who oversaw the investigation, expressed his confidence that the accused will be found not guilty.
