As the developments in the ongoing Kerala nun rape, among other such sexual abuse cases show, time is ripe for drastic changes that are required to break the bounds of religion, state, family and patriarchy that have always co-existed to support each other.
“F rom childhood we have been taught to believe that the church is our mother. But in the light of my experience, I am beginning to think that the Church is a stepmother to women and laity.”
These words penned down in a letter to Pope Francis in Rome depict the despondency of the nun who dared to raise her voice against the sexual abuse and rape she was subjected to by the Jalandhar Bishop Father Franco Mullakal, only to find herself antagonised and insulted by the holy institution she devoted her entire life to. The nun is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation based in Jalandhar, Punjab that runs two convents in Kerala – one in Kottayam and the other in Kannur. The alleged abuse took place in Kottayam.
In her seven page letter to the Pope and two others, she alleged that the bishop is a predator and has gone after several sisters but no action has ever been taken against him. She admitted that although the bishop has sexually abused her several times, she could not reveal everything to her Superior General or the councilors out of fear and shame.
Father George Pulikuthiyil, a former priest and scholar, who is currently a lawyer in the Kerala High Court and runs a leading civil society organisation ‘Jananeethi’ tells Delhi Post that the nun ran pillar to post within the church seeking a solution but in vain.
“She even approached several priests including her parish priest, confessor, spiritual master and bishops including the Major Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Rite Cardinal Archbishop Mar George Alancherry, Bishop of Palai, Bishop of Delhi, Bishops of other dioceses, Vatican representative in India and finally directly to Pope Francis in Rome. Such were the extents of her desperation to seek justice but she did not even receive as much as an acknowledgement.”
Further, Father George states that once the nun started refusing alleged sexual cohabitation with the bishop in 2016, the bishop began to try to persecute and harass her and all those who helped her in several forms by refusing her sustenance, transferring her to out of State and making false police complaints against her and her family members. The fear of impending danger pushed her to approach the police in such a situation, if not she would have been arrested on the fabricated and fictitious complaints lodged by the bishop against her.
The nun lodged a complaint against Bishop Franco on June 27, this year accusing the clergyman of sexually assaulting her over a period of two years starting in May 2014.
“Today is the 85th day since she has filed the formal complaint, and while the Nun has been subjected to shameless character assassination, incendiary speeches, vicious attacks and mounting pressure to withdraw the case, the accused was summoned on September 19 and has only been arrested yesterday, three days after being questioned by the police.
He will now be taken for a medical examination, according to reports. Previously, the accused had filed an anticipatory bail in high court on September 18 claiming that the charges were a “cooked-up story”. The court has currently adjourned the hearing to September 25 when it will hear the police version.
Recall that earlier lack of initiative by the authorities and blatant disregard of the plight of an alleged rape victim forced the nuns on to the streets to join the protests organised by Catholic reform groups claiming that the police were dragging their heels in the case and demanding the immediate arrest of the accused.
The fury of the protestors escalated when recently a state politician PC George asked a press conference why the nun had taken more than two years to raise the complaint. “No one has a doubt that the nun is a prostitute. Twelve times she enjoyed it and the thirteenth time, it is rape? Why didn’t she complain the first time?” thus publicly insulting the nun to a point that she had to cancel her scheduled press meet the following day.
Supreme Court Advocate Aishwarya Bhati tells Delhi Post, “After the various amendments carried out in 2013 in the IPC and the Evidence Act, the character of the victim and her sexual history has been made irrelevant statutorily. Moreover, even before that a lot of Supreme Court judgments dating back to 25-30 years have clearly stated that if a woman says no, it is no.”
She further adds, “Even if a woman is a sex worker, her statements and accusations have to be considered without any bias. Therefore it is unfortunate that despite the judgments and the statutory protection, the practice of browbeating the victim goes on. I think what is important is that action should not only be taken against the perpetrators of the sexual assault but time is also ripe to take action against those miscreants who make these seemingly innocuous statements abetting pro-predator sentiments in the society.”
However deplorable, the actions and words of the independent MLA PC George reflect how various sects in general have approached the case.
In continuance with its slander campaign against the rape victim, Missionaries of Jesus released a statement based on the findings of an enquiry commission formed by it targeting the nun and those supporting her, stating that the victim along with five other nuns and four other people have conspired against the bishop and have been influenced by thoughts of rationalists.
The Church body has also accused the “nun and her friends” of tampering with the ‘visitors’ register’ and stealing the ‘CCTV system’ and said that since she was seen ‘enthusiastically’ attending a private function with the bishop on May 23, 2015, it can be concluded that “there was no rape”. The Church body has even released a picture of the nun sitting with the Bishop.
“Justifying the delay in arresting the Bishop, the Kerala police filed a new affidavit six days after the group of nuns began protesting against the police inaction in front of the Kerala High Court. The police claimed that the delay in arresting the bishop was due to “discrepancies” in the statements by the bishop, the complainant and the witnesses questioned by police in this case.”
What does not quite add up to their visibly sincere stand is the affidavit filed in the case on August 10 that clearly stated that during the course of investigation so far conducted and the available evidences collected, “it is revealed that the accused committed unnatural offences and committed rape repeatedly on different dates between May 5, 2018 and September 23, 2016 on the victim, against the will and consent of the nun by abusing his dominance over her as Bishop of Jalandhar after confining her in room number 20 of St Francis Mission Home Kuravilangad”.
That affidavit also mentioned that the doctor’s report enclosed in the affidavit includes evidence that the nun in question was, in fact, sexually assaulted which is sufficient grounds for arrest.
Delaying the arrest for over a month by holding on to these dubious grounds despite booking the bishop under IPC Section 376 (punishment for rape) only shows that a compromise has been reached between the Church and the government. By delaying the arrest, the police have given enough time to the accused to influence the complainant and those who back her.
“Explaining the age-old nexus that exists in our society, Vijayan MJ, a human rights activist and political analyst tells Delhi Post that religion, state, family and patriarchy have always co-existed to support each other.”
“If you ask me why the Church is acting the way it is, my answer is that they have, since the time of their establishment, been orthodox and conservative. But then, the Catholic institution is not the gatekeeper of the fundamental rights as Indian Constitution is not applicable to the church. But the State and its representatives are responsible. Like the Nirbhaya case, the police should have taken immediate action and arrested the bishop as our law, our constitution demands that. What’s stopping them? They are no one to decide who is guilty or not, that’s the job of the judiciary. It’s the pressure. We all need to fight this pressure together, created by patriarchy and organised religion with the help of state and family that encourages chaos and exploitation in society.”
Now, although the case has garnered immense media glare and exposed deep ruptures inside Kerala’s Roman Catholic Church whose adherents numbered close to one million, it is not an unprecedented revelation of the murky secrets lurking in the dark corners of this sacred institution.
“People have hardly forgotten the murder trial of Sister Abhaya which dragged on for sixteen years with various agencies concluding that it was a case of suicide until a third probe by CBI found it was murder. The Syro-Malabar Knanaya Catholic Church was strongly criticised by the activists for trying to suppress the case using money, power and religious authority.”
More recently, five priests of the Malankara Orthodox Church may face a probe by the Crime branch over allegations of sexually abusing a woman in Thiruvalla, taking advantage of a confession she’s made to one of them. They have been asked to go on leave following the complaint made by the woman’s husband. The inquiry is pending.
“Reportedly, the Missionaries of Jesus have witnessed the loss of 20 sisters who have left during the last five years proving that the congregational leadership has no solution for the problems faced by the sisters.”
Father George adds that the Church believes in infallibility. “It means they never are wrong. Only the people make wrongs including the nuns. They are prepared with amounts of money to keep denying the truths. The money of Bishop Franco Mulakal has worked from Rome to the local police station in Kerala. It has worked in the political regime of Kerala State. It has worked in the police department both in Chandigarh and Kerala. Franco Mulakal has been given armed police protection and has been enjoying royal treatment even in the ongoing police interrogation presently taking place in Kerala.”
Clearly, in a world of the clergy and their followers, what goes on in the secluded corners of a church or elsewhere has for long been allowed to die a quiet death, but inconvenient truths have been tumbling out with such rapid frequency and if they don’t admit to their fallibility and redeem their wrong doings instead of taking desperate measures to cover up, it might become really difficult for the authorities to save the institution built on ethics and morality from losing its credibility to the wrath of those they wrong, in the name of Christ.
