Nun rape case: Priest grilled for 3rd straight day; Ker minister says justice will be done

Roman Catholic priest Franco Mulakkal was grilled by Kerala police for the third day Friday over allegations of rape and unnatural sex levelled by a nun against him.

Amid the continuing outrage over the alleged repeated sexual assault of the nun, the Kerala government said the probe by the Special Investigation Team was proceeding in the "right direction" and that justice will be done.

"Investigation is going in the right direction. The government is with the victim. The government is with the nuns staging the protest. Certainly the government will take all necessary steps to identify the culprits and bring the guilty to book," senior Kerala Minister E P Jayarajan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

He said nobody, including those sitting in protest demanding the priest's arrest, has any complaint about the way the investigation is proceeding.

The minister's statement came a day after Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the state secretary of Kerala's ruling CPI(M), said the protest by nuns in front of the high court for Mulakkal's arrest was "ill-motivated".

Speaking at a programme organised by DYFI, the youth wing of the CPI(M), in Thiruvananthapuram Thursday, Balakrishnan had alleged the agitation was ill-motivated and part of a political campaign against the Left Front government.

In an article published in CPI(M) mouthpiece 'Deshabhimani' Friday, Balakrishnan said, "Some forces are trying to portray the nuns' protest as against the government."