Kochi: The recent acquittal of former Bishop of Jalandhar Diocese Franco Mulakkal of all charges in a nun rape case has been challenged by the survivor.
The survivor, a nun, has filed an appeal in the Kerala High Court here against the 2022 January verdict.
In her appeal, she writes that the trial court had failed to examine all the evidence.
The development came shortly after the Kerala government too said that it would appeal against the Session Court's single line verdict ('Leave it alone') that acquitted Franco.
The government had received legal advice from the Advocate General urging the same.
An appeal against a lower court verdict should be made within 90 days. The verdict was pronounced on January 14, 2022.
Mulakkal, 57, was accused of raping the nun multiple times during his visit to a convent in this district between 2014 and 2016.
He was the Bishop of the Jalandhar Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church then.
The complainant is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, a diocesan congregation under the Jalandhar Diocese.
Acquitting the Bishop, the judge had said the victim's claim that she was raped on 13 occasions under duress cannot be relied on the basis of her solitary testimony.
Shortly after the verdict, Mulakkal's lawyers had said that they were not at all apprehensive of the prosecution moving higher courts.
Lawyer C S Ajayan said the witnesses' statements were in favour of the accused.
"As many as 39 witnesses were tried. There were no witnesses or documents to corroborate the victim's allegations," he had said.
However, Sister Anupama and other nuns who support the survivor had made it clear that they will continue to fight for justice and appeal, even in the event of death.
