KOTTAYAM: An over 3-year-long legal battle of a nun that rocked the Indian Catholic Church came to an unexpected end, at least for the time being, with the acquittal of Bishop Franco Mulakkal by the Additional District and Sessions Court I in Kottayam on Friday.
Response from various quarters showed that the judgment has surprised not only the public but also legal experts. According to a police officer, who wishes to be anonymous, even defence lawyers never expected such an easy acquittal. The prosecution was hundred percent confident about the conviction of the accused.
Meanwhile, former Kottayam DSP S Harisankar, who oversaw the investigations into the case, said of the 83 witnesses listed by the prosecution, 39 were examined during the trial. The witnesses, who were examined included Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry, Bishop Kurian Valiyakandathil, bishop of Bhagalpur in Bihar, and Bishop Sebastian Vadakkel of the diocese of Ujjain, and 11 priests and 25 nuns.
Yet, none of the witnesses had turned hostile during the trial, which made the prosecution confident. The prosecution produced 122 documents as well. The charge sheet against the bishop consisted of 2,000 pages in three volumes.
“We have presented convincing evidence. There were several corroborative evidence and medical documents as well. Of the six witnesses by the defense wing, none could give a reliable and strong statement in favour of the accused,” he said.
The victim nun, who is the first prosecution witness, was examined for 13 days. While the prosecution completed the examination of the nun within two days, she was cross-examined by the defence for 11 days. As many as 10 witnesses were examined three days each. Special public prosecutor Jithesh J Babu and advocate Subin K Varghese appeared for the prosecution. Adv K Raman Pillai and C S Ajayan were the lawyers of the accused.
Charges dismissed
Bishop Mulakkal was arraigned as an accused in the case under IPC sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 376 (2)(k) (rape on a woman incapable of giving consent), 376 (2)(n) (causing grievous bodily harm during rape), 376 (c) (a), 377 (unnatural offence), 354 (whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty), 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation). However, the court dismissed all the charges
From 2018 till now
June 28, 2018: Kuravilangad police register case against Bishop Franco Mulakkal on the rape complaint filed by a nun of the same diocese. The nun alleges she was raped by the bishop on several occasions from May 2014 till 2016
September 21, 2018: Probe team led by the Vaikom DySP arrests the bishop after nearly three-month-long investigation. A court remands him in judicial custody
October 16, 2018: The bishop gets bail and is released from Pala sub-jail
April 4, 2019: Probe team files chargesheet against him
May 5, 2019: Judicial First Class Magistrate Court accepts the chargesheet and issues summons to the bishop
May 10, 2019: Bishop Franco appears before court and secures extension of bail
August 28, 2019: Pala court transfers case to Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kottayam, taking into account the gravity of the crime
November 30, 2019: Additional District and Sessions Court-I commences trial proceedings
January 25, 2020: The bishop files discharge petition
March 16, 2020: Court dismisses his petition
July 13, 2020: Trial court cancels the bishop’s bail and issues arrest warrant following the violation of bail conditions
August 7, 2020: Bishop Franco appears in court and gets bail restored
August 13, 2020: Court reads out charges against bishop
September 16, 2020: Final trial commences in court behind closed doors; first prosecution witness - the victim nun - examined
October 1, 2021: Court examines Syro-Malabar Church Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry, the 26th witness
January 10, 2022: Final trial ends
January 14, 2022: Court acquits Bishop Franco Mulakkal