Kerala govt must ensure timely justice for nun who accused bishop of rape: Amnesty

Amnesty International India said Tuesday that the authorities in Kerala must ensure timely justice to a nun who has accused a bishop of raping her over a period of two years.

"Revealing the identity of a survivor of sexual violence is a crime under Indian law, but to face backlash from the very community to which she has dedicated her life, is tragic.

"This is a blatant and extremely unfortunate attempt at victim naming and shaming," said Asmita Basu, Amnesty International India's Programme Director.

She was responding to allegations of repeated instances of sexual violence faced by a Kerala-based nun, allegedly by the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, and subsequent smear campaigns against her by the Congregation of the Missionaries of Jesus.

The accused, Franco Mulakkal, has written to the Pope offering to "step aside temporarily" as the Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese, a move which comes ahead of his appearance before the Kerala Police on Wednesday to join the investigation in the case.

The Kerala-based nun had accused the clergyman of sexually assaulting her 13 times between 2014 and 2016 during his visits to the Jalandhar-diocese run convent at Kuruvilangad in Kottayam district.

The bishop has, however, dismissed the allegations as "baseless and concocted".

"The Indian Catholic Church has failed to take sufficient action in the case, despite repeated appeals by the survivor. This, in itself, is a violation of the church's own guidelines on dealing with sexual harassment at the workplace.

"In addition to this, alleged threats and harassment for having the courage to report the crime, severely curtails her access to justice," Basu said.

The bishop had last week handed over administrative responsibility of Jalandhar diocese to another clergyman.

"Authorities in Kerala have a duty to provide timely justice for survivors of rape and sexual violence. They must ensure that the survivor is given a safe avenue to seek legal redress. Prosecutors must initiate appropriate criminal proceedings against suspects and those responsible must be brought to justice at the earliest," Basu added.