Kerala nun rape case: CBI probe sought against Jalandhar bishop

KOCHI: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Kerala high court seeking a CBI probe into the case allegedly involving Franco Mulakkal, bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar who is accused of raping a nun while visiting Kerala.
No proper investigation has been conducted by the police even though 77 days have passed since the case was registered, contends V Rajendran of Charummood in Alappuzha, who has filed the PIL through advocate C Rajendran.
The investigation team went to Jalandhar in Punjab and questioned the accused but did not take him into custody, the petitioner points out.
“The government of Kerala and all the other political parties are bent upon to save the accused. So, for a proper, fair, and truthful investigation of the case, it should to be transferred to the CBI for investigation,” the PIL stated.
Demand for arresting the bishop has not only been raised by the victim but others as well. A dharna has been stated for the past three days at the high court junction in which nuns, priests, former judge of the high court and a sitting MLA participated and declared their solidarity with the victims’ demand, the petitioner argues.
Constituent of ruling parties are afraid of conducting the investigation properly as they apprehend that they would lose the votes of the well-organised community. The opposition parties are also keeping mum due to the same reason, it is alleged by the petitioner.
Ignoring the evidence already collected, the government is now trying to expand the investigation team in the name of making the team better. The present investigation team is only harassing the victim and an expanded team would not be able to conduct a proper investigation, said the petition. An admission hearing is expected on the petition on Thursday.