Kerala Police charges Bishop Mulakkal in nun rape case

Agencies
April 9, 2019

Kottayam, Apr 9: A special investigation team of the Kerala Police Tuesday filed a charge sheet against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, seven months after he was arrested over allegations of raping and sexually assaulting a nun.

The charge sheet was filed in a magistrate court at Pala in the district.

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), official sources said.

In her complaint to police in June, 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 the 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".

Five nuns, who led a public protest seeking Mulakkal's arrest, welcomed the police's decision to file charge sheet in the case and said they were satisfied with the investigation.

They expressed hope that the accused Bishop will get maximum punishment in the case.

According to sources, the charge sheet included 83 witnesses including top clergymen of the Catholic church.

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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Agencies
July 31,2020

New Delhi, Jul 31: With the highest single-day spike of 55,079 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, India's coronavirus tally breached the 16 lakh mark on Friday, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With this latest spike, the total cases in the country stand at 16,38,871. Among these cases 5,45,318 are active. A total of 10,57,806 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated.

779 deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 35,747.

As per the Union Health Ministry, Maharashtra has a total of 1,48,454 active cases and recorded 14,729 deaths due to COVID-19.
Tamil Nadu has a total of 57,962 active cases and 3,838 deaths in the state.

Delhi has a total of 10,743 active cases and 3,936 deaths.

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Friday informed that a total number of COVID-19 samples tested up to 30th July is 1,88,32,970 including 6,42,588 samples tested yesterday.

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March 24,2020

New Delhi, Mar 24: Thirty-two states and Union Territories (UTs) have announced complete lockdown to check the spread of the coronavirus in the country, informed the Central government on Tuesday.
There is a complete lockdown in as many as 560 districts of the country affecting several hundred million people.
Earlier, the complete lockdown was imposed in 30 districts, as of now, almost the entire country is in lockdown to restrict public movement in an attempt to break the chain of transmission of coronavirus.
Three states -- Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha -- have announced lockdown in select districts with the governments continuously monitoring the situation and ready to extend the restrictions to other districts as well.
The Union Territory of Lakshadweep has announced restrictions on certain activities.
The Indian Railways has suspended all passenger train operations till March 31 in view of coronavirus.

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Agencies
June 23,2020

New Delhi, Jun 23: "Coming up with a clinically tested, evidence-based medicine was a challenge," said Yoga Guru Ramdev as on Tuesday he launched Patanjali's Coronil tablet, which he claims is a cure for COVID-19. He also talked about various other immunity boosters at an event here during the launch.

Patanjali claims those administered the medicine were fully cured and none died. Ramdev even claimed that 69 per cent of them recovered within 3 days.

"We appointed a team of scientists after COVID-19 outbreak," said Balkrishna, Ramdev's close aide and MD of Patanjali Ayurved. He added that Patanjali conducted a clinical case study on hundreds of positive patients.

Patanjali has claimed that the clinical trials which were controlled in nature, was jointly conducted by Patanjali Research Institute which is based out of Haridwar and the National Institute of Medical Sciences, Jaipur.

Talking about the clinical trials, Ramdev said, "Under this 280 patients were included and 100 per cent of those recovered." He added they were able to control Coronavirus and its complications.

He said that in the next few days, data of the trail will be released as evidence to bolster claims. There are now over 9 million people affected by the pandemic since it broke out in China's Wuhan city in December 2019.

He said Ayurvedic elements are being used in the tablet. "There are more than 100 compounds used in the Coronil," he added. An entire kit is being made for that which consists of other Ayurvedic medicine as well which helps in immunity. The entire kit comes at Rs 600. However, he claimed that it will be given for free to those living below the poverty line.

As for doses, Panajali prescribes: "2-2 tablets should be consumed with hot water half an hour after meals. The above mentioned drug intake and quantity is suitable for people between 15 to 80 years of age. Half the amount of the above mentioned medicines can be used for children between the age of 6 to 14 years." These are the written instructions on the pack.

India has been battling the pandemic with close to 4 lakh cases in India on Tuesday and around 14,000 deaths so far.

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