A group of feminist lawyers and activists, named the Sisters in Solidarity (SIS), have expressed “deep shock, disappointment and disbelief at the ‘not guilty’ verdict  awarded to Franco Mulakkal, Bishop of Jalandhar acquitting him on grounds of lack of  evidence in the rape case filed against him.” They have written to Church leaders including:

• Bishop Agnelo Gracias, Apostolic Administrator, Jalandhar Diocese, Jalandhar

• Sr. Anit Kuvalloor, Superior General, Missionaries of Jesus, Jalandhar

• Rev. Sr. Litty FCC, Superior General,  Franciscan Clarist Congregation, Aluva

• Sr. Alphonsa Abraham FCC, Provincial Superior, Nirmala Province, Vijayawada

• Most Rev. Anil Joseph Thomas Couto, Metropolitan Archbishop of Delhi Chairman, CBCI Office for Clergy, Religious

• Fr. Gratian Carlo SJ, Secretary, CBCI Office and

• Oswald Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, Mumbai, CBCI President for Clergy and Religious

They have appealed to the Church and Congregational authorities to “ensure safety and security of  the survivor, companions and witnesses in the Franco Mulakkal criminal case.”  

The Franco Mulakkal case

On Friday, January 14m 2022, a Kerala court acquitted Franco Mulakkal (57), the former bishop Jalandhar who is accused of raping a nun in a Kottayam district convent, multiple times between 2014 and 2016. He was acquitted citing lack of evidence in a case that was registered by police in Kottayam in June 2018. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probed the case, arrested the Bishop in September 2018 and charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation. His trial started in November 2019 and concluded on January 10, 2022, when an additional district and sessions court acquitted the Bishop stating the prosecution failed to produce evidence against him. His supporters celebrated the verdict that sent shockwaves across the country.

According to news reports, the Nuns of the Kuravilangad Convent in Kottayam, who have always been supporting their colleague, the survivor, said the verdict will be challenged. National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma and others have extended support to the survivor. According to news reports, the nuns said they will continue to stay in the convent and continue their fight “till our sister gets justice. Police and prosecution showed justice to us but we did not get the expected justice from the judiciary.” 

The News Minute quoted Sandhya Raju, a lawyer who assisted the prosecution as saying, “The entire attempt was made to look at the sexual assault survivor in a cold and mechanical manner. There was a consistent effort to psychologically put her down.” 

Pained to see how insensitively a daughter of the Church is disowned

Now the activists’ letter also highlights that statements coming from some sections of the local community and media, claiming this verdict as a “major victory for the Church” is “very disturbing”. They ask, “Is the survivor nun not part of  the same Church? We are pained to see how insensitively a daughter of the Church is disowned,  discredited and devalued by the members of the ecclesiastical community,” state the signatories who know the survivor and have been with her in her fight for justice. They say that she and her companions have “already suffered much within the Church having been alienated from their mission and ostracised by the community. Even after she pleaded for help to the Church authorities at various levels, not one of them ever responded to her in any manner  to understand the truth.” 

They recalled that once the nun who is the rape survivor filed the case against Franco Mulakkal who is also the patron of the survivor’s congregation, “she was immediately stripped of her responsibilities as a religious” and the Missionaries of Jesus (MJ) community of the St. Francis Mission Home “was split into two groups. Since then, “the survivor and her companions have experienced harassment and  hostility from the supporters of the accused” state the activists adding that after this verdict, “they have become even more  vulnerable and are in danger of further victimisation.”

They also added that they are “deeply concerned about the safety of Sr. Lissy Vadakkel FCC, a prime witness, who is also ostracised by her congregation at Jyothi Bhavan, Muvattupuzha and is under police protection. Her frail health and isolation from the rest of the community is a matter of grave concern”.  

The activists have urged the Church, the MJ and FCC leadership to be “sensitive to the survivor and her  supporters to ensure their safety and dignity in this crucial time, in the spirit of justice, compassion and care modelled by Jesus. Immediate steps need to be taken to guarantee their security and ensure them freedom from any kind of harassment. Considering the fact that there are related cases still under investigation, they should not be  shifted out of their present residence where they are provided with full protection by the  concerned police stations.”

The letter, which has been marked to the leaders of the Catholic church in India may be read here:

Related:

Sections of the Kerala church getting dangerously communal?

Kerala nun rape case: Court dismisses Bishop Mulakkal’s discharge plea

Church divided, faces internal issues, as anti-Christian crimes rise under Modi: Report 

Kerala nun rape case: Congregation expels nun who protested against the accused

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Interestingly, the FCC’s reason for dismissal was the nun’s lifestyle. They objected to her learning how to drive and writing poems! Supervisor General of the FCC Ann Joseph reportedly wrote to Sister Lucy informing her of her dismissal claiming they had approval from the Vatican to do so!

According to The News Minute, a part of the letter of confirmation from Vatican read, “The Congregation for the Oriental Churches, by virtue of the faculty given to it by the Supreme Pontiff Pope Francis having considered everything seriously, has granted the confirmation, as per the request, so that the same professed one remains freed from her religious profession and other obligations and separated from her Religious Congregation, and to be considered dismissed from her religious life, and to be considered as a simple layperson the other things to be done what are to be done according to the law.”  

All of this is particularly disturbing in light of how the case has developed so far.

Brief Background of the rape case
The rape survivor nun had filed a police complaint saying that she was allegedly raped 13 times by Jallandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal over a period of two years (2014-2016), when she was at a convent in Kuravilangad, a small town near Kottayam in Kerala. The accused Bishop admits to have stayed in a room at a mission house at the convent on 13 occasions when he visited Kerala during that period.

The nun said that she had approached church authorities on multiple occasions, but her complaints fell on deaf ears, forcing her to approach the police. In fact, during police investigations, Joseph Kallarangatt who is Bishop of the Syro-Malabar diocese of Pala, told investigators that the nun had met him and told him about her ordeal.

Cardinal claims never received any rape complaint
Then, fingers were being pointed at Cardinal George Allencherry for knowing about the abuse but failing to act against it. However, the Cardinal claimed that his office did not receive any complaint of rape! When a police team led by Vaikom Dy SP K Subhash questioned the Cardinal, he said he never received a rape complaint from the nun, though she did raise some concerns about some issues at her convent for which she was directed to approach the concerned congregation.

In fact, the official communique from the Church said, “It is unclear from media reports who is this nun. However, a nun working with Jalandhar diocese had met the cardinal and complained about some appointments and transfers in her congregation and the inconveniences she faced. Since her congregation belonged to Jalandhar diocese, which comes congregation belonged to Jalandhar diocese, which comes under the Latin hierarchy, she was advised to approach it as the cardinal had no jurisdiction.”

Accused priest engages in victim shaming
Meanwhile, Bishop Franco Mulakkal, the accused, claimed in an interview to Times of India that his conscience is clear. In fact, in the same interview he launched a counter allegation against the nun claiming that she was getting back at him because he was investigating her for her alleged affair with the husband of one of her cousins. In 2016, the nun was posted with the Mission of Jesus Sisters in Jallandhar, where the accused is the Bishop of the diocese.

According to Sister Regina, Superior General of the mission, in November that year, the nun’s cousin had approached the church alleging that the nun was having an affair with her husband and she urged the church to step in to save her family. Sister Regina and a committee of four sisters pursued the investigation after getting the go ahead from Bishop Mulakkal. Interestingly, Bishop Mulakkal’s duties have neither been terminated nor has he been even suspended pending investigation.

Senior clergy and nuns write to CBCI and Vatican
Several senior priests and nuns wrote to Cardinal Oswald Gracious, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India and Vatican Nuncio Giambattista Diquattro, demanding that that the accused Bishop be relieved of his duties. “Now that the case has gone to the courts, we urge you to please advise Pope Francis to relieve the bishop concerned of his pastoral responsibilities, so that the Church is seen to actually practice the ‘zero tolerance’ it professes to observe in abuse cases. With the accused bishop continuing to remain in his position, it will continue to erode the faith of the people in the credibility of the Church to implement its policy of zero tolerance and act justly in abuse matters,” said the letter to the CBCI president.

“The accused bishop continuing to remain in his position will erode the faith of the people in the credibility of the Church to implement its policy of zero tolerance and act justly in abuse matters,” said the letter to the Vatican Nuncio.

Congregation releases rape survivor nun’s picture, Bishop forced to step down
After the Missionaries of Jesus congregation broke the law by releasing a photograph of the rape survivor nun from Kerala, the church authorities were forced to take action against the accused Bishop as a face saving measure. The congregation, in a bid to shame the survivor, had released a picture showing her seated by Bishop Franco Mulakkal, the priest accused of raping her. But after outrage against this despicable move, the accused bishop was forced to step down from his position. He of course claimed he had done this of his own volition citing his need to be present for further questioning.

The Bishop was temporarily relieved of his duties by the Vatican. The Bishop had applied for anticipatory bail before the Kerala High Court and was questioned by the Crime Branch in Kochi.

Nun protest sexual exploitation, Bishop finally arrested
In an unprecedented protest nuns came out on the street demanding the arrest of the Bishop. The protest went on for two whole weeks. Sister Lucy played a prominent role in this protest and challenged the patriarchy within the Church. This, even as Mulakkal was being questioned by the police. Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal was arrested on charges of rape after a three day long drilling by Kerala police in Kochi.  

Key witness dies under mysterious circumstances
In October 2018, Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, 62, a priest at St Paul’s church in Hoshiarpur district, Punjab, was found dead in his room in the church on Monday morning. He had testified against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, the Catholic priest accused of raping a Kerala nun and supported the protests by other nuns. He had made statements claiming that he feared for his life.
His family has filed a police complaint calling it a “mysterious, sudden death” and alleging he feared for his life and was attacked earlier. The police said that no injury was found but there were signs he had vomited. This death came just a week after the accused was released on bail.

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Shortly after the matter of her rape and prolonged sexual abuse came to light, several efforts were made to question the survivor nun’s credibility. In an interview to Times of India, Bishop Franco Mulakkal, had claimed that his conscience was clear and that the nun was getting back at him because he was investigating her for her alleged affair with the husband of one of her cousins. Infact, the Missionaries of Jesus congregation had released a photograph of the survivor nun with the accused Bishop in a purported bid to discredit the nun’s claims.

Following this there was a huge outcry and the Church came under tremendous pressure to take action against the Bishop. Not only did the survivor nun’s fellow sisters stage a sit-in protest, the treatment meted out to her, but several  senior priests and nuns have written to Cardinal Oswald Gracious, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India and Vatican Nuncio Giambattista Diquattro, demanding that that the accused Bishop be relieved of his duties. Catholic activists from feminist organizations Safe Cities and the Zero Tolerance Campaign also wrote to the Pope demanding justice for the survivor nun.

In what is being seen as a face saving measure by the Church, Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused bishop stepped down from his position on September 15, citing his need to be present for further questioning. On September 20, the Vatican relieved him of his duties, replacing him with Bishop AR Gracias. An official communiqué by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India said,
“The Holy Father has received the request of Bishop Franco Mulakkal to be temporarily relieved of his pastoral responsibilities in the diocese of Jalandhar.
 
Having considered all circumstances the Holy Father has accepted this request of Bishop Mulakkal and has appointed Bishop Agnelo Rufino Gracias, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Bombay as Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Jalandhar, sede plena et ad mutum Sanctae Sedis with immediate effect.
 
Our prayers accompany Bishop Gracias as he takes on this responsibility.”
 

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