Nun rape: HC order on Bishop's bail plea on Oct 3
Kochi, Sep 27: The Kerala High Court will deliver on October 3 its order on the bail plea of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, arrested on charges of raping a nun.
Justice V. Raja Vijayaraghavan heard on Thursday the arguments in the case against Mulakkal for allegedly raping the senior nun repeatedly between 2014 and 2016.
He was arrested on September 21 after three days of questioning and on September 24, he was sent to two weeks of judicial custody by Judge M. Lekshmi of Pala Judicial Magisterial Court.
Pressing for bail, Mulakkal's counsel presented a visual evidence of the bishop taking part in a private function at the victim's home
The significance of the evidence is the visit which came just a day after the victim was allegedly abused for the first time.
The prosecution however pleaded that granting him bail would affect the ongoing investigation as more statements have to be recorded.
Mulakkal, who heads the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar, Punjab, is the first bishop in the country to be sent to jail on charges of rape.
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Man kills woman lecturer, sets car ablaze; dies by suicide in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): A 46-year-old man allegedly killed a woman lecturer by setting fire to the car with her inside, before dying by suicide; his severed body was found by railway police the next day, police said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Ramanjinappa, a resident of Doddaballapura, was a contract worker in the tahsildar’s office, they said.
Police said the man, who was married and had apparently separated from his wife, was in an illicit relationship with a woman identified as Saroja, whose charred body was found inside a gutted car in an isolated area near the Bashetty Industrial Area in Doddaballapura taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Saroja was also married and had a son, police said.
According to police, on Saturday, the man allegedly borrowed a car from an acquaintance, claiming he had a medical emergency and needed to visit a hospital.
Citing preliminary investigations, a senior police officer said the man picked up the lecturer from a bus stop in Devanahalli. The two spent a couple of hours driving around Nandi Hills and nearby areas.
Later, they reached a secluded spot in Doddaballapura, where it is suspected that an argument ensued inside the car, following which he allegedly hit her on the head with a hammer, the officer said.
He then set the car on fire, reportedly using petrol, and is believed to have died by suicide thereafter, police said.
Locals who saw the burning car alerted the police and fire department, who rushed to the spot, extinguished the fire, and found the woman’s body completely charred inside the vehicle, the officer added.
His severed body was found near railway tracks in Bidadi by the railway police on Sunday, he said.
The motive and whether the crime was premeditated or impulsive are under investigation, he said.
Saroja’s husband filed a complaint accusing Ramanjinappa of killing her, police said, adding that a detailed investigation is underway to establish the exact sequence of events.
