Kerala nun rape: Victim's family threatened, offered money to drop case, says lawyer

Kochi: The family of the nun from Kerala, who has accused Bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakkal, of allegedly raping her on several occasions between 2014 and 2016, was threatened and offered money to take the case back, said the nun's counsel Sandhya Raju in the Kerala High Court on Thursday.

"Money was offered to the members of the family and they are also being threatened by the accused side," Raju said before the High Court.

The public prosecutor, however, stated that "round the clock security has been provided to the victim since July 2018 at St Francis Convent."

Meanwhile, the Kerala Police submitted a sealed affidavit before the division bench comprising Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar.

Earlier on Thursday, the court heard two petitions - one by V Rajendran, who sought for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter and the other by George Vattakulam, who demanded the arrest of Bishop Mulakkal.

The High Court observed that the investigation by the probe team in the case is satisfactory and hence it doesn't need to be handed over to CBI.

The Jalandhar Bishop had earlier refuted the allegations against him and accused "anti-church elements" of falsely implicating him in the case.