Close X
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
ADVT 
India

Kerala Church Sex Scandal: Police To Visit Jalandhar To Quiz Bishop Franco Mulakkal

IANS, 31 Jul, 2018 12:13 PM
    A team headed by Vaikom Deputy Superintendent of Police K Subhash would leave for Jalandhar on Friday, police said.
     
     
    Police probing the alleged rape of a nun by a Jalandhar-based Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church would leave for that city this week to interrogate the top priest.
     
     
    A team headed by Vaikom Deputy Superintendent of Police K Subhash would leave for Jalandhar on Friday, police said.
     
     
    State police Chief Loknath Behera would meet the investigation team ahead of their visit to interrogate Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar diocese in connection with the rape case.
     
     
    During their visit, the police will also try to gather more evidences from those connected with the case.
     
     
    The decision to interrogate Mulakkal came as the team completed a detailed probe in Kerala regarding the allegations levelled against him.
     
     
    Police had earlier said that it will take action in the case "after they are fully convinced".
     
     
    Meanwhile, Kuravilangadu police have registered a case against a Catholic priest for allegedly trying to influence a key witness in the rape case.
     
    The police registered the case yesterday against Fr James Erthayil of the Congregation of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI), an indigenous religious congregation in the Catholic Church of India, after an audio clipping of his conversation with a colleague nun of victim's congregation surfaced.
     
     
    In the leaked audio, Erthayil, who had been serving in an ashram in Kurianad in the district, was heard trying to influence the nun belonging to Missionaries of Jesus by offering 10 acres of land and a separate convent, if the complaint against Mulakkal was withdrawn.
     
     
    Meanwhile, the CMI congregation transferred the priest to another ashram in Idukki district.
     
     
    In her complaint to the Kottayam district police chief, the nun had accused Mulakkal of raping her and having unnatural sex multiple times at a small town near Kottayam between 2014 and 2016.
     
     
    However, Mulakkal has claimed that he was innocent and said the truth would come out in the investigation.
     
     
    Clergymen supporting Mulakkal had said that the nun had filed the complaint against him after a priest, also an official of the Jalandhar diocese, filed one against her relatives for allegedly threatening the bishop.
     
     
    In his complaint, the priest has alleged that the nun's relatives threatened to kill Mulakkal after he ordered a probe against her on the basis of the complaint received by the Mother Superior of her congregation.
     
     
    The nun had also complained to the National Commission for Women that the Kerala Police was "not working" in the case as the accused is a "highly-linked" person.
     
     
    NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma had said the commission would extend all possible help to the nun in the case.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Sexual Crimes Against Minors In India Up 500%: CRY

    Sexual Crimes Against Minors In India Up 500%: CRY
    Crimes against minors have soared 500 per cent over the past 10 years in India, says a new analysis by Child Rights and You (CRY).

    Sexual Crimes Against Minors In India Up 500%: CRY

    CWG Gold Medallist Manu Bhaker Dismisses Controversy, Says She Sat On The Ground By Choice

    CWG Gold Medallist Manu Bhaker Dismisses Controversy, Says She Sat On The Ground By Choice
    Times Now ‘broke’ the news that Manu Bhaker was forced to sit on the floor at a felicitation ceremony ‘in that particular place’ (also known as Charka Dadri in Haryana).

    CWG Gold Medallist Manu Bhaker Dismisses Controversy, Says She Sat On The Ground By Choice

    WATCH: Protests Over PM Modi's Visit To UK Turn Violent, Indian Flag Torn Down And Burnt

    WATCH: Protests Over PM Modi's Visit To UK Turn Violent, Indian Flag Torn Down And Burnt
    Earlier, PM Modi was welcomed by a flash mob of women in saris with dhols opposite 10 Downing Street as he arrived for his meeting with Theresa May.

    WATCH: Protests Over PM Modi's Visit To UK Turn Violent, Indian Flag Torn Down And Burnt

    Punjab Woman On Pakistan Pilgrimage To Guru Dhams Embraces Islam, Marries Lahore Man

    Punjab Woman On Pakistan Pilgrimage To Guru Dhams Embraces Islam, Marries Lahore Man
    The woman left for Pakistan on the pilgrimage as part of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) delegation on April 12 and reportedly went missing on April 16. 

    Punjab Woman On Pakistan Pilgrimage To Guru Dhams Embraces Islam, Marries Lahore Man

    Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath Event: In UK, MODI Talks About Kathua Rape, Surgical Strikes, Democracy

    Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath Event: In UK, MODI Talks About Kathua Rape, Surgical Strikes, Democracy
    With multiple rape cases of minor girls sparking nation-wide outrage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said there should be no politics over the issue.

    Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath Event: In UK, MODI Talks About Kathua Rape, Surgical Strikes, Democracy

    Media Houses To Pay Rs 10 Lakh Each For Identifying 8-Yr-Old Kathua Rape Victim

    Media Houses To Pay Rs 10 Lakh Each For Identifying 8-Yr-Old Kathua Rape Victim
    The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed 12 media organisations to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation for disclosing the identity of an eight-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district.

    Media Houses To Pay Rs 10 Lakh Each For Identifying 8-Yr-Old Kathua Rape Victim