Kerala nun rape case: In-camera post-mortem of key witness conducted

A four-member board on Tuesday conducted an in-camera post-mortem of Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, a key witness in the Kerala nun rape case who testified against accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, at Dasuya Civil Hospital, officials said.

Kattuthara, 62, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Monday in his room in the catholic church premises in Dasuya, 40 km from here.

The autopsy was videographed, Senior Medical Officer of Dasuya Civil Hospital Devinder Puri said.

The viscera will be sent to the government laboratory to find out the cause of death, he said.

A four-member board of directors was constituted to conduct the post-mortem, he added.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dasuya) A R Sharma said the body was handed over to Kattuhara's family after the post-mortem.

The deceased's brothers Jose Kurian and Johnny Thomas and brother-in-law Jojo Thomas reached Dasuya from Kerala on Tuesday.

According to officials, they proceeded to Jalandhar for prayers. Thereafter, they will take the body for embalming at Christian Medical College hospital in Ludhiana before flying back to Kerala.

No visible injury marks were found on Kattuthara's body, the police had said on Monday.

"There was vomit in the room," Sharma had said.

Relatives of the priest in Kerala had said Kattuthara was concerned about his safety after coming out openly against the bishop.

In her complaint to the Kottayam Police in June, the nun had alleged that Bishop Mulakkal raped her at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and later sexually exploited her on several occasions.

However, Mulakkal, who stepped aside as the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese last month, has denied the charges as "baseless and concocted", insisting she levelled those as the Catholic order had rejected her demand for favours.