Bishop Franco Mulakkal
Credit: PTI Photo
Kottayam (Kerala): The victim-nun in the rape case against former Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal on Saturday thanked the Kerala government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for appointing a special public prosecutor to handle legal proceedings in the Kerala High Court.
On Friday, the chief minister’s office said advocate B G Harindranath had been appointed as special public prosecutor and that a notification in this regard would be issued soon.
Speaking to reporters at Kuravilangad here, the victim-nun said she came to know about the appointment through news reports.
“I express my gratitude to the government, the chief minister, the media and media persons. Several people in society also came out in support of us through a signature collection drive to speed up our request, and I thank them all,” she said.
She said a request had been made from their side to appoint Harindranath as the special public prosecutor.
The victim-nun also thanked the state government for issuing ration cards to her and the nuns who supported her cause.
She recently revealed that a request had been submitted to the government and that she later met the chief minister seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor.
Following the revelation, Law Minister P Rajeev said provisions for appointing a special prosecutor for a case pending before the Kerala High Court would be examined.
Mulakkal, who was acquitted by a trial court in 2022 in the nun rape case, later resigned as the Jalandhar Bishop.
The victim has challenged the trial court’s verdict before the Kerala High Court.