Priest threatens witness to withdraw case

In yet another alleged bid to sabotage the rape case against Jalandhar’s Latin Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal who is accused of sexually abusing a senior nun, a priest belonging to the Congregation of Mary Immaculate (CMI) the other day allegedly turned negotiator making threats and promises to another nun, a witness in the case and a friend of the victim, forcing them to withdraw the case, as per an audio clip of a purported phone conversation between them.

Senior CMI priest James Aerthayil, who is heard threatening the victim’s supporter in the audio-clip saying, “don’t you know that they (Jalandhar Diocese) are ready to do anything?”,  is also heard telling  her that the Bishop’s diocese is ready to help them by buying a 10-acre land and constructing a convent there for them if they are ready to drop the case.

The recording of the priest’s threats and offers to the nun came out in the media close on the heels of reports on a claim made by the victim’s brother that the Jalandhar Diocese through a person in Kalady near Kochi had offered Rs 5 crore and a position of her choice to her in her congregation for not pursuing the rape case.

The recording of the priest-nun conversation has come out also amidst allegations that the Kerala police are delaying the probe against the Bishop deliberately in order to give him and his supporters sufficient time and opportunity to find ways for settling the case. The police are likely to book Fr Aerthayil for trying to influence the nun, a witness in the case.

According to the victim, a 48-year-old nun of Missionaries of Jesus, a congregation controlled by the Jalandhar Diocese, Bishop Mulakkal (54) hailing from Kerala’s Thrissur district had sexually abused her 13 times between 2014 and 2016 at a guest house attached to her convent at Kuravilangad in Kottayam district.

In the audio-clip that has appeared in the media, Fr James Aerthayil is heard telling the victim’s colleague that “somebody” had told him that the Jalandhar diocese was prepared to provide help for buying a 10-acre plot and constructing a convent in it where they could live in safety and comfort.

“This doesn’t mean that it can happen right now. You can consider this if you feel so. Somebody told me that the (Jalandhar) diocese has decided to do out of its good intentions. It won’t happen if you don’t withdraw the case. I promise to do whatever I can if you are thinking positively,” the priest is heard telling the nun.

According to Fr Aerthayil, the land could be bought in Erumeli or Ranni, places that came within the limits of the Kanjirapally Diocese of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. He also says that the Kanjirapally Bishop will ensure the necessary arrangements for the victim and the nuns who support her to live comfortably in a convent to be built there with the help of Jalandhar Diocese.

What is even more interesting about the conversation is that the priest persists in his advice even after  she tells him that they would not withdraw the case but were determined to pursue the legal battle as they were not ready to live in humiliation. “Nobody is going to withdraw any case,” the nun is heard telling the priest emphatically.

It is said that the priest, belonging to the CMI’s St Anne’s Monastery at Kurianad near Monipally in Kottayam district, had visited the Kuravilangad convent to influence the nuns on July 5, 13 and 28. However, when he reached there on Saturday, the nuns were reluctant to meet him and therefore he telephoned the nun to repeat the negotiation, as per reports.

As per instructions from Hari Sankar, Superintendent of Police, Kottayam, the investigating team probing the rape case on Sunday recorded the statement of the nun with whom the priest had allegedly talked over phone.  They will submit her statement in the court on Monday and are likely to initiate a case against him if the court permits, according to sources.

Hari Sankar told the media that the alleged delay in the probe was not unnatural. “A slight delay has occurred but it is because this is a case in which all the main witnesses are women.

As per the new provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, we have to serve notices to women before questioning them and have to record their statements at their places,” he said.