The brother of the Kerala nun who has accused the Bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakka of allegedly raping her on several occasions between 2014 and 2016 on, Thursday blamed the state government for not taking any action into the matter in view of the state elections.
"Kerala government is not taking any action as they do not want to break the cordiality between the church and the authorities as elections are approaching. Police have not done anything in 78 days. Influential politicians are supporting him," he said.
Meanwhile, Jalandhar Police Commissioner Praveen Kumar Sinha said that Kerala Police is already looking into the matter and that they would help the latter if they need any assistance. "According to the Supreme Court, in one case, there cannot be trials at two different places at the same time. The nuns have preferred to serve a complaint in Kerala. Whatever helps Kerala police needs, we will provide them," Sinha said.
Commenting on the matter, Bishop's counsel said that his client is being framed. "We have not got any summons yet, when we get then will see what to do. The Bishop is being framed. What if tomorrow its proved that bishop is innocent, then who will be held responsible for his character assassination?" Mandeep Singh told ANI.
Earlier in the day, the nun's counsel, Sandhya Raju told the Kerala High Court that the family of the nun was threatened and offered money to take the case back. "Money was offered to the members of the family and they are also being threatened by the accused side," Raju said.
The Jalandhar Bishop had earlier refuted the allegations levelled against him and said that "anti-church elements" are falsely implicating him in the case.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)