Nun rape: Bishop brought to convent where abuse took place
Kottayam (Kerala) Sep 23 : Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who has been arrested for raping a nun and presently in police custody after his bail plea was turned down, was brought to a convent near here on Sunday where the assault took place.
He was taken to the convent at Kuruvelengadu in a convoy of police vehicles from the Kottayam Police Club, where Mulakkal will be kept till Monday.
The trip to the convent is part of the police's evidence gathering. According to the victim's complains, Mulakkal raped her at the VIP rest room, where he has been staying.
The entire area was cordoned off and a huge police contingent stood guard in and around the convent.
The bishop will be produced at a court in Pala on Monday after his two-day police custody period will end.
Mulakkal, who headed the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar, Punjab, was arrested on Friday in Tripunithura after three days of questioning in the case where he has been accused of repeatedly raping the senior nun between 2014 to 2016.
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Mysuru royal family member asks villagers not to panic after her claim over 4,500 acres of land
Bengaluru (PTI): Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family on Monday said the residents of Siddayyanapura in Chamarajanagar district need not worry as she would not take any steps even if the land she has staked claim is found in the name of the royal family.
The assurance came after Wadiyar said over 4,500 acres of land in Siddayyanapura belonged to the royal family as per the agreement between the Maharaja of erstwhile Mysore and the Government of India in February 1951.
Recently when the state government moved ahead to declare Siddayyanapura as a revenue village, Wadiyar shot a letter to the Deputy Commissioner and Tehsildar of Chamarajanagar and other senior officials in the Government of Karnataka in this regard stating that the Mysuru royal family owns a parcel of land in the village, which they want to declare as a revenue village.
As the panicked villagers made a beeline before the Deputy Commissioner to resolve the issue and even claimed that the Mysuru Maharaja had gifted them land.
In order to clear confusion among people of Siddayyanapura, Wadiyar told reporters here, “We don’t know why the villagers are in fear. I am saying this now that they need not get scared now or even in future. I am giving them assurance that even if the Khatha comes in our name, they need not be afraid.”
She, however, complained that the Deputy Commissioner did not provide any document regarding the status of the property. Wadiyar wondered why people were in fear.
“I was away from the town and I was not aware of this issue at all. I learnt about this only when I read about it. I don’t know who created fear among them and I am not aware of what happened on the ground,” the successor of Mysuru royal family said.
Regarding the claim that the Mysuru Maharaja had given them land as gift, Wadiyar said, “If the Mysuru Maharaja had given them gift then do we need to snatch it back from them?”
She also said that the district authorities could have told her about the status of the land when they decided to make it a revenue village.
“Even if the land is transferred in our name, I will not create a situation that would scare them. I cannot give more assurance than this. We will do our best without the intervention of the State government, and there is no need for the government to intervene.
