Undaunted feminists Brazilian billionaire


3Clockwise from far left: Protests by nuns and Muslim supporters in Kerala led to Bishop Franco Mulakkal’s arrest in the alleged rape of a sister nun; demonstrators in New Delhi call for justice in the case; bishops from all over India attend mass in Maharashtra.


Kerala, interrogated, arrested and charged with punishable offenses under the Indian Penal Code, in- cluding illegal confinement, sexual harassment through abuse of power, unnatural sex, rape and outraging the modesty of a woman. The televised trial began in Septem-


ber 2020 with a cardinal, multiple bish- ops, 25 nuns and 11 priests among the dozens of witnesses. The survivor her- self was cross-examined for 13 days. In the court record of her testimony, the nun said, “The bishop was like God” or a father to her—she never expected that such a man would abuse her sexu- ally. She testified that the bishop angri- ly told her that if the incidents were ever made public, she “would face the consequences.” She said she feared she would be “done away with.” During the trial, counteraccusa-


tions were hurled at the nun, includ- ing unproven allegations of an ongoing romantic relationship with her cousin’s husband. Much was made of the time lag between the assaults and when the nun finally ap- proached the police. And victim- blaming was often apparent in the defense’s questioning. “The entire at- tempt was to look at the sexual assault survivor in a cold and mechanical manner,” says Sandhya Raju, a lawyer who assisted the prosecution. “There was a consistent effort to psychologi- cally put her down.” The lack of physical evidence of in-


tercourse was highlighted by the de- fense. This despite the fact that in India the legal definition of rape now includes sexual penetration and


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forced touching of any kind. The nun’s report clearly noted that, among other acts, Mulakkal had touched her genitals and forced her to touch his. Ignoring this claim and the length of time between the final assault and the nun’s examination by medical personnel, the absence of physical evidence of penetration by a penis was nonetheless presented in court as proof of innocence. In his judgment, delivered on Jan.


14, Judge G. Gopakumar wrote that he could not view the nun as a “ster- ling witness” because he was uncon- vinced by her “explanation that she could not disclose [the instances of rape] in the presence of her compan- ion sisters.” The judgment contin- ued, “She chose to return to the convent along with the accused, after being subjected to rape the previous night. … According to her, the vow of chastity had haunted her after every abuse. … In the said circumstances these journeys and close interaction with the accused definitely under- mines the prosecution’s case.” His verdict clearly relied on the fal-


lacy that rape survivors are unable to suppress their trauma. It also ignored the reality that in the Catholic hierar- chy, a nun stands lower than the low- est order of priests, and has no real voice to speak up, much less against a figure as powerful as a bishop. A six-sentence verdict—“The ac-


cused is found not guilty of the afore- said offenses … and is


set


free”—inspired the bishop to report- edly respond: “Thanks be to God.” His brothers ran to hug him in the courtroom and prayers of thanks were offered among the men. Shocked by the response, Sister


Maria Nirmalini of the Apostolic Carmel Congregation, the newly ap- pointed national president of the Conference of Religious India, said,


“The issue here is not that most reli- gious women are completely taken aback with a totally unexpected ver- dict against the sisters, but a section of the clergy and people have been celebrating the verdict as a victory for the Church.” A letter from the Conference of


Religious India sent to Cardinal Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of In- dia, read, “Whatever the outcome of their appeal in the higher court, our serious concern now is if the Church has a forum where religious women who suffer sexual abuse from their bosses, be they priests or bishops, can present their cases, and where they would be heard sympathetically. … [W]hile religious women are render- ing incredible service in society and are the face of the Church, we have no power or jurisdiction. Where do we go? Should all religious women knock on the doors of the court for justice? We really wonder if this will make other women ever step forward or would leave them with no choice but to suffer in silence.” Floods of support rose on behalf of


the nun when the verdict was made public. Letters, many handwritten, poured in from women across Kerala, some using a quote they believe to be by Emily Dickinson—“In these dark times, you are that ray of hope to mil- lions.”—or Maya Angelou—“Still I rise.” Many saw it as a continuation of patriarchal impositions on women; others spoke out against one-sided interpretations of rape law. At press time, the special prosecu-


tor in the case, Jithesh Babu, had ad- vised the Kottayam police authorities to file an appeal before the 90-day pe- riod for appeals lapses. The course the appeal takes will determine whether justice will ultimately be done. —SATHYA SARAN


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