Kerala court acquits Bishop Franco Mulakkal in nun rape case

Kottayam: A court in Kerala on Friday acquitted Roman Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the charges of raping a nun in a convent in the southern state.

As the prosecution failed to produce evidence against the accused, the Additional District and Sessions Court II acquitted the Bishop.

Mulakkal, 57, was accused of raping the nun multiple times during his visit to a convent in this district when he was the Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese of the Roman Catholic church.

The rape case against the Bishop was registered by police in Kottayam district in June, 2018. In her complaint to the police in June 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by Franco between 2014 and 2016.

The Special Investigation Team which probed the case, arrested the Bishop in September 2018 and charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.

Trial in the case, started in November 2019, had concluded on January 10.

The court had restrained the print and electronic media from publishing any matter relating to the trial in the case without its permission.