After the Kerala High Court acquitted the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the Catholic Church in the nun rape case, many people expressed anguish over the verdict.
The Kerala police officer who headed the investigation against the Bishop called the decision of the Kottayam Additional Sessions Court ‘shocking’.
Former Kottayam SP Harishankar said the police probe had built a water-tight case against Bishop Franco and called the verdict as “extremely unfortunate.”
A teary-eyed Sister Anupama, who had spearheaded the protests against Bishop Franco Mulakkal and at the same time suffer the wrath of the Church said, “We cannot believe this verdict. We will continue this fight until the day our fellow sister gets justice, even if it means we have to die. All the testimonies were in our favour so we don’t know what happened in court. We will definitely appeal in the higher court,”.
Bishop Franco Mulakkal was accused of raping a 44-year-old nun at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and his subsequent sexual exploitations against the nun.
Former Karnataka HC Judge, Justice Michael Francis Saldanha told the Republic TV, “This is a miscarriage of justice and it’s intolerable,”.
“I am absolutely shocked and horrified because I had the opportunity to look at the case and a good amount of evidence and one of the reasons why I cannot accept this decision is because he had gone to the High Court during the investigation and asked to quash the complaint. The HC had said that there is absolutely no doubt about the evidence and charges, against that he carried the matter to Supreme Court. The High Court has seen the case and in my mind, there was absolutely zero possibility for him to get acquitted. I think the High Court must intervene in the matter and re-examine the case. This is globally shocking,” stated Michael Francis Saldanha.
According to the court, the acquittal of Bishop Franco Mulakkal was based on a variety of factors, including the victim’s conflicting version of events and the prosecution’s lack of corroborative evidence and Judge G Gopakumar single-liner “not guilty” verdict.
“This is a case in which the grain and chaff are inextricably mixed up. It is impossible to separate the grain from the chaff. There are exaggerations and embellishments in the version of the victim. She has also made every attempt to hide certain facts. It is also evident that the victim was swayed under the influence of others who had other vested interest in the matter,” the Kottayam Additional Sessions Judge G Gopakumar had written in his 289-page order, that was made available only by Friday night.
Judge Gopakumar stated in the order said, “when it is not feasible to separate truth from falsehood, when grain and chaff are inextricably mixed up, the only available course is to discard the evidence in toto,”.
It further read, “It is true that the hymen of the victim was found torn in her medical examination. But defence contends that there was a complaint against the victim, by her own cousin that she had indulged in sexual intercourse with her husband. Even if it is assumed that the complaint was a false complaint, from the mere fact that the victim’s hymen was found torn, penile penetration or forceful sexual intercourse cannot be inferred,”.
The court said the nun who had alleged rape against the powerful Bishop was inconsistent in her statements and hence “she cannot be classified as a sterling witness or a wholly reliable witness.”
The case had many other victims also and one of them is Sister Lucy Kalapura who had raised her voice in protest and that led her to be permanently expelled from the Church via a Vatican directive.
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