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 intounnaturalsexandotherperverted acts. The police did not file a separate case against him after the36-year-oldnuninsisted 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.

NEW DELHI: With a trade deal off the table, India and the United States of America (US) are looking to focus sharply on defence cooperation during the two-day visit of US President Donald Trump to India, and will, in all likelihood, indicate a calendar for the signing of the third foundational military communication agreement between the two countries during the visit, top officials familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

Talks on the finalisation of the Basic Exchange and Co-operation Agreement (BECA) are scheduled to begin as early as March, one of the officials said. BECA will allow India and the US to exchange geospatial maps togetpinpointmilitary accuracy of automated hardware systems

and weapons such as cruise and ballistic missiles, apart from its civilian use.

In addition, the two countries are likely to sign multiple deals for defence purchases, added this person. This includes a $2.4 billion deal for 24 MH-60R Sikorsky helicopters, and a $930 million deal for six Apache AH-64E attack helicopters for the army from Boeing, both of which were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security earlier this week. There could also be a further order of eight Poseidon P8I multi-mission aircraft for the Indian Navy and a full spectrum missile shield for New Delhi.