KOCHI: The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) on Wednesday asked the Kerala police to complete the investigations into the rape allegations against Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mullackal at the earliest in a fair and free manner.
“The police should complete the probe as early as possible without yielding to any pressure or influence, in a just manner,” said Fr Varghese Vallikkat, deputy secretary general and official spokesman of KCBC, in a statement.
Since both the petitioner nun and the accused bishop are members of the Catholic Church family, their ‘wounds’ are also the wounds of the Catholic Church, the statement said, pointing out the Church has made it clear it will not stand in the way of a fair probe into the case. The Church’s view is if proven guilty, whoever it may be, they should be punished, as per what the law dictates.
KCBC, however, deplored what it called attempts by vested interests and a section of the press to tarnish the Church and all the bishops under the cover of the five nuns staging a dharna at the High Court Junction in Ernakulam. “The protests have crossed all the boundaries, and this is not acceptable.”