Kottayam, Kerala: The trial court concluded the hearing in the case of alleged rape of a nun by Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal and acquitted him from all the charges.
The rape case was registered by the Kottayam district police in 2018. The case trial had begun in November 2019 and the Additional Sessions Court pronounced the verdict, saying it had found him not guilty of the charges. Bishop Mulakkal is the first Bishop to undergo trial in India on sexual abuse case.
The Special Investigation Team probed the case, charged the Bishop with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex, and criminal intimidation and had arrested him.
Shri S Hari Shankar, Kottayam Police Chief has expressed his shock at the verdict and stated that no witnesses have turned hostile during the trial and ample evidence is present against the accused. The legal team is waiting for the judgment copy to file the appeal and to challenge the verdict, Sister Anupama Said.
