Kerala nun rape case: Church representative in Jalandhar condoles key witness' death

MUMBAI: Bishop Agnelo Gracias of Mumbai, who has taken over as apostolic administrator of Jalandhar after nun rape accused Franco Mulakkal resigned, has issued a condolence statement on the death of Rev Kuriakose Kattuthara. Rev Kuriakose, a main witness in the case against Mulakkal, was found lifeless in his apartment Monday.

In a statement issued through the office of the CBCI (Catholic Bishops Conference of India), the parent body of bishops, Agnelo said, "I was in Amritsar visiting the priests and was informed about the matter. I sent the vicar general immediately and requested him to inform the police to conduct an autopsy of the body. Right now, according to information we have received, following our request, the autopsy is being conducted at the civil hospital in Dasuya. We got in touch with the family members in Kerala and conveyed the sad news to them."




The statement appears to have had a delayed release given that the postmortem was completed Monday.

Fr Agnelo wrote, "The Church and the diocese of Jalandhar assures all support and collaboration to ensure that everything is done in a transparent manner. I offer my heartfelt condolences to all of Fr Kuriakose’s family members and pray that God grant Fr Kuriakose his eternal reward for all that he has done as a priest of Jalandhar diocese."




In an unusual move, Fr Agnelo also issued a lengthy statement on the circumstances in which Rev Kuriakose's corpse was recovered. It was essentially a summation of all that the news media had already reported Monday and Tuesday.

"On the morning of October 22, Rev Fr Kuriakose Kattuthara, 61, a priest of Jalandhar diocese for 35 years, was found unconscious in his room in the parish of St Mary’s Catholic Church, Dasuya, where he was residing. At 9.00am that morning, the sisters staying on the same campus at the St Paul’s Convent School, Dasuya, were informed by the driver that Fr Kuriakose had not got up till then. The driver told them that the cook at the House had told him that Fr Kuriakose did not have dinner the previous night and did not get up also for breakfast.

"Fr Kuriakose had said mass, had his lunch, and then went for rest on Sunday October 21 afternoon. He told the cook that he was going to rest and did not want to be disturbed. Though the cook had been told not to disturb him, he knocked at Father’s door for dinner. Since there was no response, he went away. In the morning again, he had knocked at the door. There was no response. So he presumed that Father had gone out.

"When the driver came, the cook told him that he had knocked on Father’s door and since there was no response he thought that the Father must have gone out. The driver replied that Fr Kuriakose had not gone out anywhere. It was then that the driver went to inform the sisters. The sisters knocked at Father’s door but there was no response. They then informed the priest-in-charge of the neighbouring parish, at Mukerian, Fr Libin Kolencherry, and some of the priests in the neighborhood.

"Fr Libin reached Dasuya at about 10.00am. He ordered the door to be broken open. Fr Kuriakose was lying down with vomit from his mouth. Immediately he was taken to the civil hospital, where he was declared dead."

Rev Kuriakose's death has evoked anger and consternation across India. His family as well as common citizens have raised suspicion in the mysterious manner of his death within three days of Mulakkal being let off on bail. Activists have urged the law courts to cancel his bail. They also fear for the safety of other witnesses.