ANOTHER NUN ACCUSES BISHOP MULAKKAL OF HARASSMENT

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A fresh allegation of sexual harassment has surfaced against the controversial former bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakkal, a day before a court in Kottayam, Kerala, is to hear his discharge petition in the nun rape case.

One of the witnesses (witness No 14), who is also a nun, gave a statement to the police in May 2019 saying that in 2015, Mulakkal forced her to expose herself to him, and used to make video calls to her during which he would flash her. She said she had also undergone sexual harassment similar to that experienced by the first complainant, who had alleged that she was forced into unnatural sex and other perverted acts.

The police did not file a separate case against him after the 36-year-old nun insisted that she was not willing to pursue her charges, said a senior police officer who supervised the probe.

Her detailed statement was

leaked to the media on Friday by the Save our Sister Forum, a body fighting for reforms in the church. In the statement, the nun said some other nuns were also harassed by Mulakkal but were scared to speak out against the powerful bishop.

In June 2018, a 43-year-old nun, also a mother superior, complained to the police in Kottyam that Mulakkal raped her several times between 2014 and 2016. The nun is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation based in Punjab. But Mulakkal denied her charges and claimed he was framed after he took action against her over financial irregularities in the convent.

He was not detained for several months, but finally arrested in September 2018 by a special investigation team (SIT) formed to probe the case. After spending 40 days in jail he was granted bail and received a hero’s welcome in Jalandhar although he was later removed from the post of bishop.

The SIT filed a charge sheet against him last year.

Since then, Mulakkal has sought to delay proceedings. The trial was originally expected to commence on November 11, but was shifted to November 30 and later January 6 after he sought more time. Later he filed a discharge petition seeking to quash charges against him saying he was implicated wrongly in the case.

The former bishop’s supporters say the statement being leaked a day before the case comes up reeks of conspiracy. “His discharge plea is coming up before the court on Saturday and timing of the leaking is really mysterious. This was a ploy to implicate him in more cases,” said Indian Catholic Forum leader Binu Chacko. The church has rallied behind the controversial Mulakkal.

Five nuns, who sat on a fast in Kochi two years ago seeking his arrest, and who are largely responsible for forcing authorities to take the case seriously, were not immediately available for their comments. for the following day.

The joint statement at the end of the talks will also likely focus strongly on terrorism and cooperation between the two countries on tackling it, the second person said. The US, he pointed out, had emerged India’s staunchest ally on this front in recent years — whether it is the listing of terrorist Masood Azhar or raising the issue of Pakistan sheltering India’s most wanted man, Dawood Ibrahim, at the Asia Pacific FATF meet. The statement may also mention a deepening of hydrocarbon trade between the two countries. From almost nothing in 2014, the US’ hydrocarbon exports to India have risen to around $9 billion.

While both countries are keen on a trade deal, there are some sticky issues, the two officials said, adding that there is also ambition on both sides to announce a substantial deal rather than an incremental one. Market access to Indian products and tariffs remain sticky issues, they added, as does India’s digital nationalism in the financial payments space.

However, progress on BECA should help offset that, the two officials said.

Along with Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) and Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), BECA is one of the foundational military communication agreements between the two countries.

LEMOA, which allows the Indian and American defence forces to use each other’s facilities and establishes procedures of easier access of supplies and services required by them, was signed in 2016.

COMCASA, which allows the US to transfer communication equipment to India that allow secure transmission of data and real-time information between the armed forces of the two countries, was sealed during last year’s Two-plus-two talks in Washington.

And in December last, the two countries signed the Industrial Security Annexe to the General Security of Military Information Agreement, which provides a boost to the Make in India initiative by allowing sharing of classified information between defence manufacturers of the two countries with the full backing of governments. (liberation), Dalit Mukti, Muslim Mukti” placard at a protest in the city. The woman has been booked for offences under the Indian Penal Code, including creating enmity between different groups.

On Friday, the police had to provide security at Leona’s residence in Chikkamagaluru district, some 250km from state capital Bengaluru, after some unidentified people allegedly attacked the house on Thursday evening, officials told news agency PTI.

Chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday alleged that Leona had links with Maoist rebels in the past. “Importantly, the organisations that are behind people like Amulya and nurturing them, if we don’t take action against such organisations, such things won’t end,” he told reporters in Mysuru.

“If organisations that are behind her are inquired into, things will come out. It is clear she had links with Naxals in the past,” the CM said, adding: “In this backdrop, she should be punished and action taken against organisations that are behind her.”

Leona’s father Wazi said she had made an “unforgivable mistake” and caused “pain to Indians”.

Since Thursday’s incident, videos have emerged online purportedly showing a group of people questioning Wazi about his daughter’s conduct and making him chant “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” slogans.

In a Facebook post dated February 16, purportedly by Amulya, she can be heard saying “zindabad” to the names of several neighbouring countries; doing so does not make her belong to them, she says.

State home minister Basavaraj Bommai said all angles, including the woman’s Facebook posts, would be looked into to find out if any organisation was behind her.

“Let’s look into what comes out of the investigation and accordingly action will be taken...” he said, criticising the Opposition for “supporting” such elements and asking them to act responsibly.

On Thursday, Janata Dal (Secular) leader Imran Pasha had alleged that the controversy had been planned by some rival group to disrupt the protest against the CAA, which seeks to fast-track grant of Indian citizenship to non-muslim minorities from the Muslim-majority countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Leona, he said, was not in the list of speakers at the event and demanded that the police investigate the matter seriously.

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