Missionaries of Jesus releases nun’s pic with Bishop, booked

Kottayam/Kochi, September 14

Flouting the country’s anti-rape law, the Missionaries of Jesus, the congregation to which the nun who has accused the Jalandhar diocese bishop of rape belongs, on Friday controversially released a photograph of the alleged victim and the perpetrator seated together in a group.

The congregation put out the photograph in a release issued to the media to publish the findings of its enquiry commission, which looked into the nun’s allegations. Indian laws prohibit revealing the identity of rape and sexual assault victims.

The congregation, however, cautioned against publishing the photograph, saying it cannot be held responsible if the press violates the rule.

It claimed that the May 23, 2015, photograph was taken when the nun was attending a private function along with Bishop Franco Mulakkal. They claimed that the nun had attended several such functions with Mulakkal.

The nun has never appeared in public or in front of media after filing the complaint. In a press release, the congregation accused the victim, her five fellow nuns and four others of conspiring against the bishop.

It alleged that the nuns had “violated the discipline of the congregation” several times and even refused to renew their vows—a very important step in the life of a nun in a convent. Framing charges against the nuns, the commission said the congregation was convinced that they were under the influence of “atheists” and their thoughts.

It claimed that the visitors’ register, a key evidence for establishing Mulakkal’s presence in the convent in Kuravilangad where the victim nun lived, was handled by a nun very close to her and they might have tampered with it. It also accused the victim and her fellow nuns of forcibly shifting to their room the control system of the CCTV cameras from that of Mother Superior. — PTI