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Indian Nuns Demand Arrest of Bishop Accused of Rape

by Associated Press

   KOCHI, INDIA --

   A group of Catholic nuns is holding a public protest in south India,
   demanding the arrest of a bishop whom one nun accused of rape.

   The nuns, members of the Missionaries of Jesus, began the protest last
   week, gathering with dozens of supporters along a crowded street in
   Kochi, a coastal city in the Indian state of Kerala. India is largely
   Hindu but Kerala has a large Catholic population.
   The protest follows a June complaint to police by a Missionary of Jesus
   nun who accused Franco Mulakkal, now the bishop of the city of
   Jalandhar, of repeatedly sexually abusing her in 2014-2016.
   The bishop has denied the accusations. Police questioned Mulakkal in
   July. He has not been arrested.