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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Karnataka govt revokes suspension of DGP Ramachandra Rao, reinstates him
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government on Wednesday revoked the suspension order of DGP K Ramachandra Rao and reinstated him into service with immediate effect.
According to the official order, the 1993-batch IPS officer has been posted, with immediate effect and until further orders, as Director General of Police (Police Manual).
"The post of Director General of Police (Police Manual) is declared equivalent in status and responsibilities to the cadre post of Director General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, Special Units and Economic Offences, Bengaluru, under Rule 12 of the IPS (Pay) Rules, 2016, as included in Schedule II of the said rules," the government order stated.
Rao, who was then serving as Director General of Police (Civil Rights Enforcement), was placed under suspension with immediate effect on January 19, citing conduct unbecoming of a government servant and causing embarrassment to the state administration.
News channels had beamed videos purportedly showing Rao in a compromising position with women. The videos had also gone viral on social media.
Rao is the stepfather of Kannada actress Harshavardhini Ranya, alias Ranya Rao, who is accused of orchestrating the illegal import of gold worth over Rs 12.56 crore from Dubai to India along with two others--businessman Tarun Raju and jewellery dealer Sahil Jain.
Ranya was apprehended at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport on March 3, 2025, with 14.8 kilograms of gold allegedly smuggled from Dubai.
