The Force Of Habit

The success of the nuns protest stirs Keralas political soup.

- Minu Ittyipe

THE protest by five nuns of the congregation of the Missionar­ies of Jesus on the streets of Kochi, Kerala, was singular in many ways. For the first time in the history of the Catholic Chu­rch in India, these nuns, who had taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedi­ence, took to the streets in an act of def­iance, alleging inaction by the church and the police. A nun had alleged that the bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakkal, 54, had confined and raped her several times between 2014 and 2016 at a convent in Kuruvilangad. When the church failed to act on her accusa­tion, the nun filed a complaint with the police in June this year. But even after interrogating Mulakkal and filing an affidavit confirming rape with the Ker­ ala high Court, the police hesitated to arrest him. The nuns took to the streets and, after a 14­day sit­in and mounting public pressure, Mulakkal was arres­ ted. he is now in judicial custody.