Kerala rape: Protests against Jalandhar bishop intensify
Independent MLA from Kottayam’s remark fuels nuns’ stir
Protests continued to swell across Kerala on Sunday against Jalandhar bishop accused of raping a nun over two years.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after five nuns of the Missionaries of Jesus Congregation in Kottayam district protested against the delay in justice to a fellow nun who was allegedly raped over two years by a bishop, protests continued to swell across Kerala on Sunday, fuelled especially by a comment made by an MLA against the victim.
On Saturday, independent MLA from Kottayam’s Poonjar constituency, PC George, asked at a media conference why the rape survivor had not complained about the bishop’s alleged crime immediately, and news agencies and TV channels said he had referred to the rape survivor as a “prostitute”.
Outraged by the language used by George against their colleague, the nuns have decided to initiate legal action against him. “We were really shocked to hear this from a lawmaker,” Sister Anupama, one of the nuns from the convent in Kuravilangad, said. As members of various Catholic organisations took to the streets, some even protesting outside Kerala high court, the nuns accused the Kerala police chief of trying to sabotage and delay the probe to protect Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar.
The nun from the Kottayam convent has accused the bishop of raping her at the convent guest house 13 times between May 2014 and September 2016. After her numerous complaints to Church authorities fell on deaf ears, she filed a police complaint in July this year. “We have full faith in the ongoing investigations being carried out by Vaikkom DSP K Subhash. But we suspect DGP Loknath Behra and IG Vijay Sakre are not allowing him to carry out a free and fair investigation,” Sister Anupama told reporters at Kuravilangadu, adding that 75 days had passed since the complaint was filed but nothing had come of it yet.
“The investigating team quizzed the victim at least seven times but the accused was questioned only once. It seems the higher police authorities are quite frightened to touch the bishop,” she alleged, also questioning the silence of Church authorities.
DGP Loknath Behra denied any move to delay the case.