Kottayam District Civil Supplies Officer Sajani B. handed over ration cards to three nuns at St. Mary’s Mission House on Wednesday. Francis in Kuravilangad. | Photo credit: VISHNU PRATHAP
To the three religious sisters, including the survivor of the sexual abuse case of Bishop Franco Mulakkalo, who reside in the Mission House of St. Františka in Kuravilangad, the state government issued ration cards on Thursday. The cards were handed over to the nuns in the monastery by the district supply officer Sajani B.
In an interview with the media, the complainant against the bishop reiterated that the legal battle against him will continue. The nuns, she said, led an isolated life in the monastery, sometimes struggling to meet even basic needs like food. Touched by their plight, Civil Supplies Minister GR Anil intervened and ordered officials to issue them ration cards.
The sequence of events dates back to 2018, when a survivor filed a police complaint after repeated attempts to seek redress from higher church authorities allegedly failed. Subsequently, five nuns, including the appellant, staged a protest demonstration in Kochi on September 8 of that year, which attracted national attention. A few days later, Bishop Franco Mulakkal, then head of the Latin Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, was arrested.
The protest marked a watershed moment in the history of the Catholic Church in India, as it was the first case of a group of nuns publicly challenging the authority of the church hierarchy.
However, on 14 January 2022, Bishop Franco Mulakkal’s local court acquitted him of the charges, citing a lack of evidence. The verdict further deepened the isolation that nuns faced in the church.
Published – 14 Jan 2026 19:47 IST
