KOTTAYAM (INDIA)
India Today [Uttar Pradesh, India]
January 13, 2022
By Rickson Oommen Thiruvananthapuram
Franco Mulakkal was the first Indian Catholic bishop to be arrested in a case of sexual abuse against a nun in Kerala.
Ahead of Kerala special court’s verdict in the nun rape case, Sister Lucy, who was dismissed from her congregation for criticising Bishop Franco Mulakkal, said the judgment would be “victory over devil”. Mulakkal is an accused in the Kerala nun rape case. The special court is likely to deliver its verdict on Friday.
“Tomorrow’s sexual harassment case verdict would be a victory over devil,” Sister Lucy said.
Sister Lucy criticised the police and government saying that they did not “try enough” to ensure justice to all the nuns allegedly assaulted by Franco Mulakkal. She said she was targeted for speaking up against the bishop in the wake of sexual assault allegations.
“After I took a stand there was continuous torture. They have expelled me from the congregation. Now also I am living in the convent after favourable verdict from Mananthavadi municipal court. I am a member of the congregation for past 40 years. I feel that it’s my home. Nobody can throw me out because I stood with the nun and spoke against the Bishop,” she said.
In her complaint, the nun had said that on May 5, 2014 the bishop visited Kuravilangad convent and called her to his room at night and forced her to have unnatural sex with him. The nun had alleged that the bishop raped her 13 times between 2014 and 2016.
Following the complaint, many nuns, activists and political leaders came forward demanding the arrest of Mulakkal. He was arrested in 2018.
Mulakkal was the first Indian Catholic bishop to be arrested in a case of sexual abuse against a nun. Franco Mulakkal was posted at the Jalandhar Diocese when he allegedly raped the nun multiple times during official visits to Kerala.