22 September,2018 08:10 AM IST | Kochi | Agencies
Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun, leaves after being interrogated by the Kerala police, in Thrippunithura. Pic/PTI
After three days of questioning, the Kerala Police on Friday arrested Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who heads the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar and has been accused of repeatedly raping a nun, police said.
This is the first time in the country that a bishop has been arrested for rape. "Given the stature of the accused, the police left nothing to chance before arresting him," said a cop.
The arrest came after the bishop was questioned for three consecutive days at the Crime Branch office near Tripunithura. The police will now take Mulakkal, who has maintained that he is innocent, for a medical examination and then produce him before a magistrate in Kottayam. Mulakkal has been accused of repeatedly sexually abusing the nun between 2014 and 2016.
The news of his arrest was received with shouting of slogans at a venue where five nuns have been on an indefinite protest along with the public for the past 14 days demanding his arrest. "We still can't believe that he has been arrested. We are overjoyed," exclaimed a nun. "We are extremely happy. This happened only because we got the support of the public and also the media," said another nun. The arrest became a certainty on Friday morning when a police officer went to the victim, who is staying at a convent near Kottayam, to take statements for the seventh time since June, when she first raised the issue.
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