The Pala magistrate court in Kottayam on Friday extended till June 7 the bail of former Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of sexually assaulting a nun between 2014 and 2016.
The court extended the bail where Mulakkal appeared in person. The court has posted the case for June 7.
Mulakkal who was arrested on September 21 last year in Kochi after three consecutive days of interrogation by the state police, is currently out on bail.
The Kerala Police on Tuesday submitted a 1,400-page chargesheet to the court against the bishop.
It names 83 witnesses, including the Cardinal of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Mar George Alencherry, three bishops, 11 priests and several nuns.
The chargesheet was filed almost seven months after his arrest.
The Bishop’s arrest came after a nun complained that she was raped multiple times between 2014-16. The crime had occurred at a convent in Kottayam district.
The police in its remand report to a trial court had stated that Franco Mulakkal came to the convent with the intention of sexually assaulting the victim.
Four nuns had rallied behind the complainant calling for a speedy filing of the chargesheet.
Last month, the protesting nuns submitted a petition at Kottayam SP’s office seeking the speedy filing of the chargesheet.
The demand for the speedy filing of chargesheet came just over a month after the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was urged to ensure their safety by the National Commission for Women (NCW).
(With inputs from IANS)