INDIA
Catholic News Agency via the Catholic World Report
July 27, 2020
After several failures to secure dismissal of charges in lower courts, a Catholic bishop whom a nun has accused of rape has asked India’s Supreme Court to dismiss the case.
Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur has been charged with raping a nun repeatedly over the course of two years, allegations he denies.
His effort to dismiss the charges was rejected in a trial court in March, then again in the Kerala High Court July 7. The court agreed with prosecutors that there was evidence to proceed, The Tribune of India reports.
Mulakkal claims he was falsely accused after he questioned alleged financial irregularities of the victim’s convent.
Bishop Mulakkal was arrested in September 2018 amid protests calling for a police investigation of the allegation. He was subsequently released on bail. The bishop was charged in April 2019 with rape, unnatural sex, wrongful confinement, and criminal intimidation. He faces imprisonment of 10 years to life if found guilty.
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