Kerala nun who protested against rape accused bishop sacked for 'learning to drive'

Thiruvananthapuram: Sister Lucy Kalapura, the nun who raised her voice against rape accused Bishop Franco last September, was expelled from Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) for learning to drive, writing poems, purchasing a car and for violating other norms of the FCC.

"I am writing this letter to intimate you that you are hereby dismissed from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation. Please remember that you were given the required canonical warnings. However, you did not show the needed remorse and failed to give a satisfactory explanation for your lifestyle in violation of the proper law of the FCC," stated the letter issued by FCC Superior General, ANI reported.

Undeterred by the expulsion letter Sister Lucy is firm on continuing her fight against the arbitrary decision.

“I have been asked to quit the convent within 10 days. But I am not going to vacate the premises. There are not only vows of obedience and poverty, but also of chastity. I have been a nun for the last 33 years. They can’t dismiss me like this. I will look at legal options after consulting a lawyer. I want to fight, as a woman I need security. I will seek police protection if required,’’ Kalapura, who hails from Karikkottakkari in Kannur, told The Indian Express.

Sister Lucy, who is a teacher with a church-run government-aided school and a member of the FCC convent at Karickamala village in Wayanad, had received numerous warning letters for supporting the nuns' protest at Ernakulam seeking the arrest of Bishop Mulakkal.

Bishop Mulakkal,a senior member of the Roman Catholic clergy in India, was arrested last year following allegations of repeatedly raping a nun from the Jalandhar-based Missionaries of Jesus and sexually assaulted her at the Kuravilangad convent between 2014 and 2016. He has denied the charges and is currently out on bail.