Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal.
CHANDIGARH: The Kerala Police team which is investigating the alleged rape case lodged by a senior nun is questioning Bishop Franco Mulakkal.
The six-member Kerala Police team first went inside the premises of Bishop House in the afternoon but the Bishop was not there. In the evening the team again went to his official residence.
As late in the evening around 8 pm, when Bishop Mulakkched the Bishop House in a cavalcade of vehicles along with paraphernalia of private security guards. As the media tried to take his side of the story the private security manhandled the media persons and in the process cameras of two of them broke and some of them got bruises also.
Then suddenly with any provocation, the private security locked the gates of the bishop house thus a few media persons got stuck inside. In the whole episode, the Punjab Police was mum.
Later the Punjab Police acted and got the stuck media persons out of the house from the side gate. Interestingly the road leading to the Bishop House was barricaded from both sides by the local police. Bishop Mulakkal's lawyer Mandeep Singh Sachdev said that he (Bishop) just got a notice that he should appear before police at 8 pm, he was around and so he came back.
There have been speculations that the Bishop could be arrested, but Sachdeva said no anticipatory bail had been moved in the court. The inquiry team of Kerela Police led by Vaikom DSP K Subhash is accompanied by the Jalandhar Police.
The Kerela Police team had come to Jalandhar on Friday. The interrogation is expected to go on for at least two hours. Already two priests Father Antony and Jalandhar Diocese PRO Father Peter were today interrogated by the Kerela Police at the Jalandhar Police Lines.
The team had yesterday met and recorded statements of some nuns and ex-nuns at the Missionaries of Jesus.
The complainant nun was earlier serving as Superior General in the congregation. She had on June 28 lodged a complaint against the Bishop that he had raped her thirteen times during his visit to a Jalandhar Diocese centre in Kerala between 2014-16. The Jalandhar center of Missionaries of Jesus is the headquarters of all centers under the congregation in India.
