A Kottayam additional sessions court in Kerala acquitted Roman Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the charges of raping a nun multiple times for over three years in a convent.
Judge G Gopakumar had pronounced the verdict and cleared the Bishop of the rape charges with a single-liner “not guilty.”
He stated in the order: “when it is not feasible to separate truth from falsehood, when grain and chaff are inextricably mixed up, the only available course is to discard the evidence in toto”.
However, the unexpected verdict sparked a wave of condemnation, with supporters of the victim saying they will move the high court.
Soon after the verdict was announced, Kottayam SP Harishankar expressed his displeasure and called the verdict as “extremely unfortunate.”
Harishankar said the police investigation had built a water-tight case against Bishop Franco Mulakkal but they didn’t expect the verdict.
“There was a lot of medical and corroborative evidence. Defence witnesses also could not establish much ground. Till today morning, we were all expecting a conviction in the case. This verdict comes as a shock,” Harishankar added.
Former Karnataka HC Judge Justice Michael Francis Saldanha also responded sharply to the court’s verdict and remarked that ‘This is a miscarriage of justice and it’s intolerable.’
Sister Anupama, who was the face of the nun’s years-long fight for justice, said they would challenge the verdict in higher court.
Showing her disappointment, she said,“We cannot believe this verdict. We will continue this fight until the day our fellow sister gets justice, even if it means we have to die. All the testimonies were in our favour so we don’t know what happened in court. We will definitely appeal in the higher court.”
Extending support to the nun, National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma tweeted: “Shocked at the judgment of Kerala Addl. dist and session court. The victim nun must go to high court. NCW is with her in this fight for justice”.
