The National Commission for Women (NCW) as well as women activists came out in support of the nun who accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of raping her, on a day he was acquitted.
NCW chief Rekha Sharma tweeted offering her support. “Shocked at the judgment of Kerala additional district and session court. The victim nun must go to the high court. NCW, India is with her in this fight for justice (sic),” Sharma tweeted. The nun from Kerala’s Missionaries of Jesus had accused Mulakkal of raping her 13 times in two years, between 2014 and 2016.
Women’s rights activist and noted lawyer Vrinda Grover said that it took the nun a lot of courage to take on the whole system, and the price she has had to pay is high.
The accuser nun and those who have come in support of her were ostracised. Some nuns who sat on a protest outside Kerala High Court led to Mulakkal’s arrest in 2018, the first such arrest of a bishop in India.
“This is a case where repeated rape as per the complainant had been committed within the Church by a man senior to her institutionally; the case has to be understood in the context of the authority the accused yields. Religious systems like the church and convents ensure that a nun takes vows, and there is a regularised hierarchy. One would have hoped that these aspects were in the mind of the court,” said Grover.
The nun had to lead a lonely battle, and she has not received any institutional support, Grover said. “In fact, the church has supported the accused. These are precisely the very factors that an accused relies upon to ensure that a woman never complains; they bank on the woman’s silence,” Grover said.
While feminists and Christian women’s associations stood by the nun, the Church in 2021 printed a calendar showing Mulakkal as an ideal religious leader, leading to a lot of outrage.
Women’s rights activist Ranjana Kumari, Director of Centre for Social Research as well as Chairperson of Women Power Connect, said that patriarchy comes in the way of investigations. “Cases are investigated and presented to court by the police, and given the patriarchal nature of our system, women are always considered to be on the wrong side. There are two reasons to silence her. First, to accept that these things happen; it is remarkable that she voiced out. Secondly, the system is simply not geared towards not delivering justice,” said Kumari.
Check out DH's latest videos: