Bishop Franco Mulakkal
A Kerala court on Saturday rejected bail plea filed by Bishop Franco Mulakkal, arrested over allegations of repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting a nun, and sent him to two-day police custody.
The Bishop was brought to the magistrate court around 1.15 pm amid tight security. His lawyers moved the application, submitting that the clergyman was arrested after a three-day-long interrogation by the probe team.
Opposing the plea, the police said his three-day custody was required to complete the investigation in the case.
Recording the submissions, the magistrate granted two-day custody of the bishop to police, till 2.30 pm on Monday.
The bishop would be kept at the Kottayam Police Club till Monday, when he would be again produced at a court in Pala, near here, a police officer said.
Mulakkal, who headed the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar, Punjab, was arrested on Friday in Tripunithura after three days of questioning in a sexual abuse case filed by a nun who accused him of repeatedly raping her between 2014 to 2016.
The bishop's counsel told the court that his client's blood sample and saliva were forcefully taken.
The police said that Mulakkal would be taken to the convent near here, where he is alleged to have raped the nun. He would also have to undergo a potency test.
Police had a tough time on Saturday controlling the crowd as people jeered at Mulakkal, who became the first bishop in the country to be arrested for rape.
(With inputs from agencies)
