Probe team decides to summon Bishop Franco Mulakkal

Kottayam: The special probe team enquiring into the sexual abuse case against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, Bishop of Jallandar, has decided to summon the Bishop for interrogation.

The notice for the same will be served through Punjab police to appear within a week. Reports are that based on the interrogation, he is likely to be arrested.

The enquiry team has assessed that the statement of the Bishop contained not only the dates of the torture but also several points that strengthen the case against him. In order to verify this, the police had also taken video pictures of the interrogation. Police are hopeful that it can lead to the arrest of the Bishop based on these, and following the statement in the second session.

For the purpose of getting clarity on the statement, the enquiry team recorded on Monday the statements of those who were with the nun.

It was after it became clear that the statement of the Bishop was entirely wrong, that the probe team decided to summon the Bishop to Kerala. The enquiry team is said to have spotted over twenty contradictions in his statement. The police infer that more nuns had been subjected to the torture of the Bishop, but because of his influence over them, they were not ready to disclose all the details.