Kerala: Bishop Franco Mulakkal Acquitted in Nun Rape Case

Mulakkal, 57, was accused of raping the nun multiple times during his visit to a convent in Kottayam district when he was the Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese of the Roman Catholic church.

The Wire Staff

Mulakkal, 57, was accused of raping the nun multiple times during his visit to a convent in Kottayam district when he was the Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese of the Roman Catholic church.

kerala bishop franco mulakkal acquitted in nun rape case

Bishop Franco Mulakkal. Photo: Twitter

New Delhi: A Kerala court on Friday acquitted Roman Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the charges of raping a nun in a convent in the southern state.

The additional district and sessions court II acquitted the Bishop saying the prosecution failed to produce evidence against him. The detailed order is awaited.

Mulakkal, 57, was accused of raping the nun multiple times during his visit to a convent in Kottayam district when he was the Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese of the Roman Catholic church.

The rape case against the Bishop was registered by police in Kottayam in June 2018.

In her complaint to the police in June 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by Franco between 2014 and 2016.

The Special Investigation Team which probed the case arrested the Bishop in September 2018 and charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.

The trial in the case started in November 2019 and concluded on January 10.

The court had restrained the print and electronic media from publishing any matter relating to the trial in the case without its permission.

(With PTI inputs)

This article went live on January fourteenth, two thousand twenty two, at forty minutes past eleven in the morning.

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