Kochi: The State Government and a survivor nun filed an appeal with the Kerala High Court, seeking to annul the verdict acquitting Bishop Franco Mulakkal in the nun's rape case.

Franco Mulakkal, the former leader of the Latin Catholic diocese of Jalandhar, was acquitted earlier this year by the Additional District and Sessions Court in Kottayam. Mulakkal allegedly raped a nun 13 times between 2014 and 2016, when he was a bishop in the Missionaries of Jesus, Jalandhar diocese, according to the lawsuit.

On June 27, 2018, a complaint was lodged, and Franco Mulakkal was arrested on September 21 on charges of rape under seven sections of the Indian Penal Code. The case's trial began in November of this year.

The bishop was detained in September 2018 by the Special Investigation Team, which was investigating the allegation. He was charged with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex, and criminal intimidation.

The case's trial, which began in November 2019 and ended on January 10, came to a close on January 10. The court had prohibited the print and electronic media from releasing any information about the case's trial without the court's authorization.

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