Nun rape case: Bishop Franco moves court, seeks excluding his name from accused list
Kottayam/UNI: Bishop Franco Mulakkal has filed an appeal before the Additional Sessions Court here on Saturday seeking to remove his name from the list of accused in the nun rape case.
Franco, in his appeal, has sought to exclude his name from the list of the accused before the trial starts.
The Court will consider the appeal on February 4.
Police in April last submitted a 1400-page chargesheet against Franco who was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a nun between 2014 and 2016.
The chargesheet was filed before the Magistrate Court in Pala near here where the trial will take place. The charges include rape, unnatural sex and keeping in forced custody.
Franco was arrested on September 21, 2018, on rape charges after four nuns joined a public protest in Kochi forcing police to take action against him.
He secured bail on October 16, 2018, but is no longer head of the diocese.
The chargesheet named 83 witnesses which include Cardinal of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Mar George Alencherry, three bishops, 11 priests and several nuns.
The probe received huge public support when Sister Anupama, along with three other nuns staged a public protest. Last month the nuns threatened to launch another protest if the trial was delayed.
Sister Anupama said we know only half of the job is done, and hope the trial will start soon".
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