Kochi, October 16: Former Bishop Franco Mulakkal who was accused of raping a nun from Kerala has been from Kottayam jail on Tuesday. Yesterday, the Kerala High Court granted conditional bail to Mulakkal. He was arrested last month on charges of raping a nun repeatedly between 2014 and 2016. The court also asked Mulakkal to surrender his passport and appear before the police every two weeks. One of the conditions of the bail is the rape accused will stay out of Kerala.

The court on October 3 dismissed Mulakkal's bail plea as Justice V Raja Vijayaraghavan observed that there was evidence against him. The bishop was arrested on September 21 after three days of questioning. Mulakkal was also temporarily removed from the post of Bishop by Pope Francis. In a statement, the Vatican said Pope Francis had accepted the request of removal of Franco Mulakkal from the position of Bishop in the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar, Punjab.

However, an inquiry commission formed by the Missionaries of Jesus gave a clean chit to Franco Mulakkal. The inquiry commission said the nun who alleged rape conspired with others to defame the bishop. The 54-year-old Bishop was accused of raping a nun 12 times in the two years. The victim broke her silence three months ago and registered a case against the Bishop on June 27.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 16, 2018 09:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).