The kottayam Additional Sessions court determined Bishop Franco Mulakkal "not responsible" in the 2018 nun rape allegation. "Praise the Lord," remarked a clearly annoyed Bishop Mulakkal as he walked out of the court following the ruling. Franco Mulakkal was India's maiden Catholic Bishop to be arrested on charges for sexually molesting a nun. In 2018, he was imprisoned.

The 45-year-old sister claimed in her accusation that on May 5, 2014, the bishop paid a visit to the Kuravilangad monastery and summoned her to his room late at night, forcing her to engage in unnatural intercourse with him. Between 2014 and 2016, the nun said the bishop molested her 13 times. Mulakkal's imprisonment was demanded by a number of nuns, activists, and government figures in the aftermath of the allegation. In 2018, he was jailed.

Mulakkal alleged he was not in the Kuravilangad convent on May 5, 2014, the day the sister alleged she was raped for the very first occasion. He claimed he simply went to the monastery for a visit and stayed at another convent in Muthalakodam. Mulakkal denied the allegations, claiming that he had initiated an internal investigation into her when a woman alleged that the woman was having an inappropriate relationship.


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