Nun seeks Vatican help to get justice

Tribune News Service & PTI

Kottayam/Jalandhar, September 11 

Weeks after she accused a Roman Catholic Bishop of raping her, the complainant nun has sought the intervention of the Vatican and his removal as head of the Jalandhar diocese, questioning the Church for  “closing its eyes to the truth.”

Meanwhile, the Punjab Christian Movement at a meeting in Jalandhar asked the Bishop to resign even as the women's wing of the Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI) announced a protest to express solidarity with the nun.

In a scathing letter to the Vatican, the nun alleged Bishop Franco Mulakkal was using “political and money power” to bury the case against him. She  said she had not spoken about her ordeal in public earlier because of fear and shame.   With protests by Catholic reform organisations unabated, there were reports that Cardinal Gracias, the president of Catholic Bishops Conference of India, would be raising the issue with the Pope.

Members of the Christian community close to the accused Bishop submitted a letter to the Jalandhar ADC to be handed over to the Kerala CM. It read: “A few misled persons of the community are being misused by anti-Dalit organisations.”