Kerala nun rape case: Finally, the law catches up with Bishop Franco

Retribution has caught up with the Jalandhar bishop, Franco Mulakkal, who is facing charges of raping a nun. Shedding inhibitions and fending off pressure, the Kerala police has at last arrested the rape-accused bishop.

In the process, a debilitating body blow has been dealt to entrenched patriarchy in the fields of religion and politics. The victory was made possible by the tenacity, determination and will power of the survivor nun. She and her supporter nuns had to take to the streets having failed to get justice from the Church authorities. Knock, and the door will open is the biblical slaying. But it took the intrepid nun over four years of relentless struggle to have the doors of justice opened.

The whole-hearted support the fighting nuns received from people belonging to all walks of life and transcending all barriers is heart-warming and inspiring . The relentless heat of popular pressure forced the police and the government to shed their indifference and act against the highly-influential and powerful bishop.

The nun’s heart-warming saga of success should – and – would embolden other victims similarly circumstanced to come out with their tales of sexual exploitation. It must have taken exemplary courage for the nun to battle against a system that puts a premium on patriarchal dominance and enjoins unquestioned obedience on nuns. The culture of secrecy, which has been the norm, would, hopefully, become a thing of the past now that the Rubicon has been crossed.

The denouement also represents a wake-up call for the church authorities. The acute embarrassment and the ignominy could have been averted if only the authorities concerned had listened to the nun’s tale of woe in time. That this was not done is bad enough. Worse was the brazen attempt to hush up the case, the resort to the classic carrot and stick formula to silence the nun and her supporters. Blandishments, persuasions and intimidation followed in quick succession. But all these efforts foundered on the rock of the nuns’ determination and grit. The probe launched by the police must identify these women-haters and mete out deterrent punishment to them.

It is certainly introspection time for the church authorities. Hopefully, the bishop’s arrest would induce self-criticism and initiation of quick and lasting corrective measures. Failure to do so would only cause further erosion in the authority of the institution of the church and its reputation.

Most important, the tendency to penalize the nuns who dared to speak up must be firmly resisted. That any such attempts would be firmly resisted has been made clear by the Save Our Sisters(SOS), an umbrella movement which spearheaded the arrest-bishop campaign. It is time to reinvent, and reform. Failure to address the problems would only heap further humiliation and misery on the institution of the church.

The nun’s victory has lessons for sexual abusers and predators in other religions, too. The temptation to gloat over the predicament of the church is uncalled for. The mirror must be turned firmly and pitilessly on the wrong-doings and abuses in their own backyard. Only then will they have the moral right to point fingers at others. After all, those who live in glass houses cannot throw stones at others.

The political class also stands warned and rebuked. Their shocking silence in the face of such inhumanity to women must evoke strongest condemnation. Both the ruling parties and the opposition have diminished themselves. If they think such rank hypocrisy would fetch political and electoral gains, they are living in a fool’s paradise. The people are intelligent enough to see through their sordid and disgusting games. The parties will have to pay a very heavy cost when the day of electoral reckoning comes, especially at the hands of women who form the backbone of the Catholic Church. What compounds their offence and culpability is that they are doing all this knowingly. Therefore, the question of forgiving them simply does not arise. Political and electoral come-uppance awaits them, too. Amen.