Bishop moves Supreme Court for quashing of rape charge

New Delhi, July 25

Nun rape case accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal has moved the Supreme Court seeking discharge in the case, claiming he has been implicated after he questioned financial dealings of the victim.

Mulakkal (56) — the deposed Bishop of Jalandhar diocese — has challenged the July 7 order of the Kerala High Court dismissing his plea. The trial court had also rejected his plea.

He was arrested in September 2018 after a nun in the Missionaries of Jesus congregation filed a complaint accusing him of raping her 13 times between 2014 and 2016 in Kottayam in Kerala. The Kerala Police have already filed a chargesheet against him in the case. The chargesheet has listed 83 witnesses, including Cardinal of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, three bishops, 11 priests, and many nuns against him. The Kerala High Court had on July 7 dismissed his plea seeking to discharge him in the case and directed him to face the trial. — TNS