Franco Mulakkal, the head of the Jalandhar Diocese of the Roman Catholic church, was arrested on Friday afternoon following three days of questioning, according to police.
Mr. Mulakkal was produced before a local magistrate on Monday afternoon and was remanded to judicial custody till October 6. His bail application is pending in the state high court, which will be heard on Thursday.
In an unprecedented move, five nuns from the Catholic church have been staging a protest in front of the high court of Kerala demanding the arrest of the bishop. There were allegations that the police were delaying the arrest.
The nun approached the police in June this year alleging that the church had taken no action on her multiple complaints against the bishop.
Inspector General of Police Vijay Sakhare told media that the bishop was arrested on Friday night and would be produced before a magistrate on Saturday.
Nuns hold placards during a protest demanding justice after an alleged sexual assault of a nun by a bishop, on September 15, 2018 in Kochi, Kerala. Source: Getty
The 54-year-old bishop had denied all accusations early.
In June 2017 the nun, who has not been named, had filed a complaint to the church accusing a bishop of allegedly raping her 13 times over a period of two years. Since then she has filed several complaints to the Vatican and various other departments of the Catholic Church across India.
According to reports the nun who accuses the bishop of raping her wrote a letter to the Vatican seeking help.
The eight-page letter is addressed to Giambattista Diquattro, the Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal, who is an ambassador to the Pope. In the letter, she has accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal and his "associates" of disturbing the life and peace of many sisters of the church.
The protest follows a June complaint to police by a Missionary of Jesus nun. Source: AAP
It is the first time in the history of Kerala that nuns are raising their voices publicly on an issue within the Church. Although there have been many cases including murder cases against a few priests in Kerala, no nuns have come out to this extent.
When the protest gained momentum, a number of people including celebrities and public figures joined the strike demanding the arrest of Bishop Franco.
At the time of the indefinite strike, the brother of the complainant and one of the protesting nuns spoke with SBS Malayalam.
“We have filed complaints to three departments under Pope Francis. And we have received the receipt that they have received it. Now it is up to the Pope Francis to check it out,” the victim's brother, who has not been named, said brother priest.
Franco Mulakkal had denied all allegations through media statements, saying that he is leaving "everything into the hand of God as I await the result of the findings of the team probing the allegation."
Earlier he had also stated that the nuns: "do not have just one grievance, they are protesting generally. The sisters (nuns) have just been put on the forefront. This is a conspiracy."
