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Bishop Franco Mulakkal appears in court

Agencies
May 10, 2019

Kottayam, May 10: Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping and sexually assaulting a nun in Kerala, Friday appeared before a magistrate court in Pala.

The Pala Judicial First Class Magistrate Court (JFMC), which issued summons to the accused last week directing him to appear before it on May 10, accepted his plea seeking further extension of bail.

The accused was handed over a copy of the charge sheet and other related documents filed against him by the Special Investigation Team of the Kerala police which investigated the case.

The court posted the matter for June 7 for further consideration.

Mulakkal offered prayers at a church in Bharananganam near Pala before appearing in court.

Last month, the special investigation team had filed the charge sheet against Bishop Mulakkal, seven months after he was arrested over allegations of raping and sexually assaulting the nun.

Mulakkal was former Bishop of Jalandhar diocese and a senior member of the Roman Catholic clergy in India.

The nun, who belongs to Missionaries of Jesus congregation under Jalandhar diocese, had accused the 55-year old clergyman of repeatedly raping and having unnatural sex with her between 2014 and 2016.

He allegedly committed the offence when he was the Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese.

He has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 376C (sexual intercourse by person in authority), Section 377 (unnatural sex) and 506(1) (criminal threat).

In her complaint to police in June last, the nun had alleged that Mulakkal raped her at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and later sexually exploited her on several occasions.

She said she had to approach police as church authorities did not act on her repeated complaints against the clergyman.

Mulakkal, however, has claimed that he was "absolutely innocent" and "falsely implicated" with an "ulterior motive and vexatious intention."

Ahead of his interrogation and arrest, the Vatican had relieved him "temporarily" of all pastoral responsibilities as the bishop of the Jalandhar Diocese.

Mulakkal was arrested in September last amid mounting public outrage over allegations of repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting the nun.

He was released from a sub-jail in Pala on October 16 after the Kerala High Court granted him bail.

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News Network
March 3,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 3: Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu has said that a medical team is monitoring the health condition of all those people who had stayed with the coronavirus-hit techie who is admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad.

The first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Telangana was reported from Hyderabad on Monday where a man from Bengaluru, who recently returned from Dubai, tested positive for the virus.

"It has come to our knowledge that the coronavirus-hit person in Hyderabad had gone from Bengaluru. Therefore, all the members in the house where he had stayed here have been identified and are under watch," Mr Sriramulu tweeted on late Monday night.

The minister said he has convened a meeting with the additional chief secretary, commissioner and other senior officials of the health department today.

"Our government has initiated all the measures to prevent the spread of this virus," the minister said.

It is learnt that the 24-year-old techie had not contracted it when he was in Bengaluru but all precautionary measures have been taken.

The software engineer, who works in Bengaluru, had worked with people from Hong Kong in Dubai last month where he is suspected to have contracted the virus, Telangana health minister E Rajender told reporters in Hyderabad.

The man reached Bengaluru on February 19/20 and later went to Hyderabad in a bus.

He took treatment for fever after coming to Hyderabad and was admitted to a private super speciality hospital in the city. As it did not subside, he came to the state-run Gandhi hospital on Sunday evening, Mr Rajender said.

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News Network
May 9,2020

Bengaluru, May 9: With 41 new cases of COVID-19 reported on Saturday, the total number of positive cases in Karnataka has reached 794, said the state Health Department.

Out of the total number, 386 are discharged and 30 patients have passed away. The total number of active cases now in Karnataka is 377.

The total number of positive coronavirus cases across the country is 59,662, including 39,834 active cases.

Till now, 17,846 patients have been cured and discharged and 1,981 deaths have been recorded in the country, as per the data provided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 5,2020

Mangaluru, Aug 5: Normal life was thrown out of gear as heavy rain and gusty winds lashed large parts of coastal and malnad districts of Karnataka in last 48 hours. Widespread power outages due to tree fall and minor landslides were reported in last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Indian Meteorological Department has sounded a red alert for Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts 8:30am of August 5.

In Mangaluru city there were several tree falls disrupting power supply in key areas of the city. Four electricity poles were damaged after a tree fell on Boloor Jarandaya road due to rain and heavy winds. In Neermarga too, there were a couple of tree falls in the morning cutting off power supply, which was not restored till this report was sent.

Mescom bore the brunt of the rains in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada District and at the last count as many as 148 electric poles, 23 transformers and 65 kilometer conductor wires were damaged due to poles being damaged in tree fall and landslides.

Traffic was affected on Charmadi Ghat on the Mangaluru-Chikkamagaluru route due to a tree fall on the second hair pin bend. 

On Monday, landslides near Kottigehara, Chikkamagaluru District, left traffic badly affected. Though normalcy has been restored on the route after blocking the road for restoration till Tuesday morning, locals fear more landslides due to continuous downpour.

Kodagu district too received heavy rainfall in past 24 hours which resulted in water logging in low-lying areas.

In the Coast, Uttara Kannada received the highest amount of rainfall at 91mm, followed by Udupi at 75 and DK at 73mm. The highest Rainfall of 241 mm was recorded at Castlerock, Supa Taluk in Uttara Kannada District.

KSNMDC bulletin stated that widespread moderate to heavy rains associated with strong surface winds at times and isolated very heavy to extreme heavy rains was likely over Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts It also stated that wind speeds ranging between 50kmph to 60 kmph was forecast along the coast of Karnataka from Mangaluru to Karwar, warning fishermen not to venture into the sea.

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