Bishop Franco granted conditional bail in Kerala nun rape case

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 15 

Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of sexually abusing a nun between 2014 and 2016, was on Monday granted conditional bail by the Kerala High Court.   

The Bishop secured the bail with strict conditions that he should not enter Kerala. He must also surrender his passport and should appear before the police once in every two weeks.

Mulakkal was arrested on September 21 after three days of questioning and on September 24 he was sent to judicial custody. 

The 54-year-old Bishop, currently lodged in a sub-jail in Pala in Kottayam district, moved the high court again after a magistrate court extended his judicial remand.

Police opposed the bail application of the clergyman, saying investigation was still on in the case.

Mulakkal, who heads the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar, Punjab, is the first bishop in the country to be sent to jail on charges of rape and since then he has been getting a steady stream of high-profile visitors, including leading politicians.

He had last month stepped aside as the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese.