Sister Anupama, face of nuns' protests against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, leaves convent

Sister Anupama, who was the face of protests against former Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal in a rape case, has renounced nunhood and gone back to ordinary life, leaving the Catholic convent.

For several years, she had been an inmate of a Kuravilangad-based convent, which is functioning under the Latin Catholic diocese of Jalandhar. A group of nuns, led by Sister Anupama, had fought on behalf of the victim nun who had accused Mulakkal of raping her multiple times.

"She renounced nunhood and left the convent some time back," a church source told PTI.

However, the church didn't divulge many details, including when she had exactly resigned and what suddenly prompted her to do the same. Anupama, who preferred to stay away from public glare, was also yet to talk to the media about her new decision. Neither Anupama, an Alappuzha native, nor her family were available for comment. The victim nun had accused Mulakkal of raping her during his visit to the convent in Kottayam between 2014 and 2016, when he was the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese in Punjab.

As the victim had never come to limelight, it was mainly Sister Anupama who had talked to the media on behalf of her and led the public protest seeking stringent action against him. Since then, Anupama and those nuns, who had fought against Mulakkal, had been on a warpath against the church authorities.

Mulakkal, who was temporarily relieved of his pastoral responsibilities by Pope Francis in 2018 following allegations of rape by a nun, had resigned from the Jalandhar Bishop's post in 2023.

Earlier, he was acquitted by a local court in Kerala in the rape case. According to church sources, Franco Mulakkal, the Bishop Emeritus of Jalandhar diocese, is currently leading a prayer mission in Kottayam.