Bishop Franco case: Cardinal Alencherry examined as witness, verdict may come by December

This may be the first occasion in the history of the Indian judiciary that a cardinal and major archbishop of the Indian Catholic Church was examined as a witness in a rape case against a bishop
Former bishop Franco Mulakkal (File | EPS)
Former bishop Franco Mulakkal (File | EPS)

KOTTAYAM: With the final trial in the rape case filed by a nun against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, former head of the Latin Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, in progress in the Additional District and Sessions Court I in Kottayam, the prosecution on Friday examined Syro-Malabar Church Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry, who is the 26th witness in the case.

Interestingly, this may be the first occasion in the history of the Indian judiciary that a cardinal and major archbishop of the Indian Catholic Church was examined as a witness in a rape case against a bishop.

As per the charge sheet submitted by the investigation team, the victim and her colleagues had met Cardinal Alencherry on November 24, 2017 and submitted a complaint intimating about the rape. The Cardinal, who accepted the complaint, said to the victim that he was unable to intervene in the issue as Bishop Franco belongs to the Latin Catholic Church and directed her to approach the authorities
of that church with the complaint. Later, during the investigation, the police had recovered the complaint filed to Cardinal Alencherry.

With this, the prosecution has completed the examination of as many as 20 witnesses in the case. Earlier, the court had examined Bishop Kurian Valiyakandathil, bishop of Bhagalpur in Bihar, and Bishop Sebastian Vadakkel of the diocese of Ujjain, who were also added as witnesses in the case. The prosecution is likely to examine one more bishop as witness -- Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt of Pala diocese -- in the later stages of the trial. There are also 25 nuns and 11 priests as witnesses.

The prosecution is producing as many as 83 witnesses in the case, of which more than 20 were examined so far. The prosecution is expected to complete the examination of the remaining witnesses by next month. The court posted the case to October 4 for the next hearing. As the court has posted the case for frequent hearing this month, a final verdict can be expected by December this year. Along with the charge sheet, 101 documents related to the case and a laptop and some mobile phones will also be submitted before the court.

The investigation team charged Bishop Mulakkal with five major offences including rape. Apart from IPC Section 376 (2k) (rape of a woman incapable of giving consent), the other charges against the bishop include 376 (c) (a), 377 (unnatural offence), 376 (2n) (causing grievous bodily harm during rape), 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) and 342 (wrongful confinement).

Special public prosecutor Jithesh J Babu and advocate Subin K Varghese appeared for the prosecution.

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