Kerala nuns oppose Crime Branch probe into bishop abuse case
Kochi, Sep 9 : A group of Catholic nuns on Sunday opposed a Crime Branch probe into a case where a bishop allegedly sexually abused a nun.
"We have heard that a Crime Branch probe is being planned. This is only meant to delay the proceedings. We are happy with the present police probe. The higher officials do not want us to get justice," a group member told the media.
On Saturday, the nuns attached to a Catholic convent near Kottayam to which the alleged victim also belonged, started an indefinite fast programme organised by the Joint Christian Council here to pressurise the state government to act against the accused, Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar.
The protest was called due to the fact that since the case was registered 75 days ago, the police have taken 12 statements from the victim while only one from the accused bishop.
Meanwhile, Kerala Police Chief Loknath Behra has dismissed claims of a Crime Branch probe.
"I am yet to review the case as it is being handled by the Inspector General (IG) of Police. The IG is happy with the progress in the investigation," Behra told the media on Sunday.
Sources closed to the victim said that a press conference which she was slated to address has been cancelled and will now directly approach the Kerala High Court seeking justice.
In June, the victim alleged that Mulakkal sexually abused her several times between 2014 to 2016. An FIR was registered against the bishop and a 114-page detailed statement was taken from the nun and other inmates of the convent.
However, Mulakkal has denied any wrongdoing.
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Low visibility prevents PM’s helicopter from landing in Taherpur, Modi returns to Kolkata airport
Kolkata (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter failed to land at the Taherpur helipad in West Bengal owing to low visibility on account of dense fog in the area on Saturday, an official said.
The PM’s chopper made a U-turn after hovering over the helipad ground for a while and returned to the Kolkata airport, he said.
Till reports last received, the Prime Minister was waiting at the airport for further updates on the weather situation.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Modi would reach the rally venue district by road or whether he would wait for the weather to clear up and make another attempt to reach Taherpur by the aerial route, the official said.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister reached Kolkata at around 10.40 am and took a chopper onward to Taherpur in Nadia district, where he is scheduled to hold an administrative programme to launch highway projects in West Bengal, followed by a political rally of the BJP, titled Parivartan Sankalpa Sabha, which he is supposed to address.
