Kerala High Court rejects Bishop Franco Mulakkal's discharge plea in nun rape case

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday rejected a petition of former bishop of Jalandhar Franco Mulakkal seeking discharge in a sexual assault case at Kottayam district in Kerala.

Franco had approached the HC after a local court earlier rejected the plea. The HC dismissed the petition after the prosecution maintained that there were incriminating evidence against Franco. Franco's contention that the nun raised fake sexual allegation against him was rejected by the HC.

A nun of a convent at Kuravilangad in Kottayam district alleged that Franco sexually assaulted her 13 times between 2014 and 2016. Though the nun complained to the police in 2017 June, the investigation commenced only after protests by a group of nuns under the banner ‘Save our sisters’ in Kochi. Franco was arrested on September 21, 2018 and later released on bail. He was charged under various sections of Indian Penal Code for rape, unnatural sex, illegal detention and criminal intimidation.