Nun rape: Bishop questioning enters Day 3

The Kerala Police began questioning Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun, for the third consecutive day on Friday, even as demands for his arrest grew.

Mulakkal has been accused of repeatedly sexually abusing the nun between 2014 and 2016. Nuns have been protesting in Kochi for the past 14 days demanding his arrest.

The bishop, who belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar, Punjab, has been questioned for seven hours each on two days starting Wednesday near here at a Crime Branch office.

He was accompanied by his counsel and a few priests as he arrived for the questioning under heavy police escort around 10.45 a.m.

With Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan leaving for medical treatment to the US, Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan, the de facto Chief Minister, speaking to the media, said that the probe was advancing in the right direction.

"The state government has always been with the victim and whosoever does a wrong -- the wrongdoer will be taken to task," he said.

Kottayam police chief Hari Sankar, who leads the police probe team told the media on Friday that at the moment they were unable to say anything about the arrest.

"It will only be decided after the interrogation is over. It is completely the prerogative of the investigating officer. And there is no need for him to take any permission from anyone. We have already consulted legal experts," said Hari Sankar .

He also met Inspector General of Police Vijay Sakhre, who is heading the probe team.

For the past two days, K. Subash, the deputy superintendent of police, was the investigating officer. He was also the first one to meet the bishop when he questioned him in Jalandhar in August.

The Kerala High Court will be hearing the bishop's anticipatory bail plea on September 25.

An FIR was registered against the bishop and a 114-page detailed statement was taken from the nun and other inmates of the convent.

--IANS

sg/in