Kerala Nun Rape Case: Key Witness Fr Kuriakose Kattuthara Found Dead In Jalandhar
Key witness in the Kerala nun rape case Father Kuriakose Kattuthara of Jalandhar Diocese was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his residence on Monday morning. The sexagenarian priest had in recent past given a statement against rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal. Father Kuriakose had alleged that he had been tortured by Franco Mulakkal for filing a complaint. Meanwhile, Father Kuriakose Kattuthara’s brother Jose Kattuthara has alleged to the local media that Kuriakose had confided that he had been getting death threats and the church officials had been tormenting him.
However, the nature of the priest’s death can be ascertained only after the post-mortem as he was also being treated for age-related ailments. As per initial information, the priest did not come for the morning prayers, that’s when the when nuns started searching for him and later found him dead. The Jalandhar police have said that they haven’t received any complaint as of yet and trying to ascertain the details. The rape accused, Bishop Franco Mulakkal was granted a conditional bail on October 15, following which he received a hero’s welcome in Jalandhar on the very next day. This was the Bishop’s second attempt to get the bail.
Earlier in September, his first attempt for bail was quashed by the court, and he was sent to judicial custody till October 6 by Pala Judicial Magistrate Court. Last week, further woe awaited Bishop Franco as a Kerala court extended his judicial custody till October 20. The Bishop was arrested by the police on September 21, 87 days after a complaint was filed against him. It was preceded by three days of grilling by the Investigative agencies and a medical examination. The bishop had denied all the charges against him by the rape survivor nun’s allegations, who accused her of rape between 2014 and 2016, and remained elusive and vague during the course of interrogation.