Rape accused bishop arrives in Jalandhar, supporters shower rose petals on him
Chandigarh, Oct 17: Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who faces allegations of raping a nun, received a rousing welcome from his supporters when he reached Jalandhar after being released on bail by a Kerala court.
Mulakkal smiled as followers showered rose petals on him. Till a few weeks ago, he held charge as the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese.
The bishop, who was escorted by Punjab police personnel, did not talk to the media.
He was granted conditional bail by the Kerala High Court on Monday, and released from a jail near Kottayam a day later. He was arrested on September 21 after being accused of repeatedly raping and sexually abusing a nun between 2014 and 2016.
As the demands for his arrest grew, the Vatican temporarily relieved him of all pastoral responsibilities as the bishop of the Jalandhar Diocese of the Missionaries of Jesus.
While granting bail, the court had directed him to surrender his passport and not to enter home state Kerala except for appearing before the probe officer once in two weeks.
In her complaint to the Kottayam Police in June, the nun had alleged that Bishop Mulakkal raped her at a guest house in May 2014 and later sexually exploited her on several occasions.
The nun said in her complaint that she had to approach the police as the church authorities did not act on her repeated complaints.
Mulakkal, however, has denied the charges as "baseless and concocted," insisting she levelled them as the Catholic order had rejected her demands for favours.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
