Bishop Franco Mulakkal asked to appear before probe team on 19th
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Kochi: Kerala police have asked Bishop Franco Mullakal of Jalandhar diocese, accused by a nun of raping her, to appear before the investigating team on September 19, Inspector General of police Vijay Sakhare said Wednesday.
The decision to summon the clergyman was taken after a meeting chaired by Sakhare, IG (Ernakulam range), which was also attended by Kottayam District Superintendent of Police Harisankar and Vaikom Deputy Superintendent of Police K Subhash amid mounting pressure on police to initiate action against Mullakal.
The nun had recently sought urgent intervention of The Vatican for justice and demanded the bishop's removal as the head of the Jalandhar diocese, questioning why the Church was "closing its eyes to the truth" when she mustered courage to make public her sufferings.
In a scathing letter to The Vatican that was made available to the press on Tuesday, the nun accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of using "political and money power" to bury the case against him and demanded to know if the Church could give back what she lost. She had accused the clergyman of sexually assaulting her repeatedly between 2014 and 2016.
The bishop had, however, dismissed the allegations as "baseless and concocted", insisting she levelled those as the catholic order had rejected her demand for favours.
Meanwhile, agitation of various Catholic reformation organisations in Kochi seeking justice for the nun entered the fifth day on Wednesday.
Many cultural icons in Kerala, including noted poet Balachandran Chullikkad, have supported the protest.
Leaders of the Mahila Congress, BJP and various rights organisations expressed solidarity with the protesters.
The nun had on Tuesday shot off a letter to the Vatican representative in India to sack the Bishop, claiming he was using “political and money power” to bury the case.
The allegations come at a time when The Vatican's fighting accusations of sexual abuse against several of its clergymen across the world and, through its silence, even complicity on its part.