Bishop Mulakkal taken for reconstruction of crime scene

Agencies

September 23, 2018

Kottayam, Sept 23: Bishop Franco Mulakkal, arrested on charges of repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting a nun, was Sunday taken to a guest house at nearby Kuravilangadu by police for reconstruction of the crime scene.

The police vehicle carrying the bishop, who was sent to two-day police custody Saturday by a magistrate court in Pala, reached the St Francis Mission Home at 10.20 am and left the place after completing the procedure at 11.10 am.

In its remand report submitted in the court, police had said the nun was subjected to rape and unnatural sex by the accused at the guest house of St Francis Mission Home 13 times between 2014 and 2016.

The victim and her fellow nuns staying in the home were not present there when Mulakkal was brought.

Official sources said police planned to move an application in the court, seeking permission to subject the bishop to a lie detector as he was still reluctant to make the confessional statement.

The Kerala High Court Saturday had rejected the bail plea of the bishop and sent him to two-day police custody.

His lawyers had moved the application seeking relief, submitting that the clergyman was arrested after a three-day long interrogation by the probe team.

Opposing the plea, police had said his three-day custody was required to conduct his potency test and to recover the laptop, mobile phone and the dress used by the accused.

They said his body fluid and DNA samples were required to be collected as part of the probe.

Recording the submissions, the magistrate granted two-day custody of the bishop to police till 2.30 pm on Monday.

The Roman Catholic Bishop, who was arrested Friday night, was later taken to the Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, Saturday to perform these tests.

After completing the procedure at Kuravilangadu convent Sunday, Mulakkal was taken to the Police Club in the town.

He will be produced in the magistrate court in Pala at 2.30 pm on Monday.

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

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

However, the bishop has denied the charges.

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Rajdhani Express Derails, 7 elephants killed after collision in Assam

News Network

December 20,2025

At least seven elephants were killed and one calf injured after a herd collided with the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Assam's Hojai on Saturday morning, leading to disruption of rail services.

The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express struck a herd of elephants, resulting in the derailment of the locomotive and five coaches. No passenger casualties or injuries were reported, officials said.

The New Delhi-bound train met with the accident around 2.17 am, PTI reported. The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express connects Mizoram's Sairang (near Aizawl) to Anand Vihar Terminal (Delhi).

Railway has issued helpline numbers at the Guwahati Railway Station:-

•   0361-2731621
•   0361-2731622
•   0361-2731623

The accident site is located about 126 km from Guwahati. Following the incident, accident relief trains and railway officials rushed to the spot to initiate rescue operations.

Train Services Disrupted

Sources said that due to the derailment and elephant body parts scattered on the tracks, train services to Upper Assam and other parts of the Northeast were affected.

Passengers from the affected coaches were temporarily accommodated in vacant berths available in other coaches of the train. Once the train reaches Guwahati, additional coaches will be attached to accommodate all passengers, after which the train will resume its onward journey.

The incident occurred at a location that is not a designated elephant corridor. The loco pilot, upon spotting the herd on the tracks, applied emergency brakes. Despite this, the elephants dashed into the train, leading to the collision and derailment.

Last month, an elephant was killed after being hit by a train in Dhupguri in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. The incident took place on November 30.

The adult elephant was killed on the spot, and a calf was discovered lying injured beside the tracks.

Over 70 Elephants Killed In Train Collisions Over Last 5 Years

At least 79 elephants have died in train collisions across the country in the last five years, the Environment Ministry had informed Parliament in August.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh had said the figure is based on reports from state governments and Union Territory administrations for the period 2020-21 to 2024-25.

He said that the ministry does not maintain consolidated data on the deaths of other wild animals on railway tracks, including in designated elephant corridors.

Singh confirmed that three elephants, including a mother and her calf, were killed on July 18 this year after being hit by a speeding express train on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section in West Bengal's Paschim Midnapore district. The incident took place near Banstala between Jhargram and Banstala stations.

The minister said several measures have been taken jointly by the Environment Ministry and the Railways to prevent such accidents.

These include imposing speed restrictions in elephant habitats, pilot projects such as seismic sensor-based detection of elephants near tracks and construction of underpasses, ramps and fencing at vulnerable points.

The Wildlife Institute of India, in consultation with the ministry and other stakeholders, has also issued guidelines titled 'Eco-friendly Measures to Mitigate Impacts of Linear Infrastructure' to help agencies design railways and other projects in ways that reduce human-animal conflicts.

Singh added that capacity-building workshops were conducted for railway officials at the Wildlife Institute of India in 2023 and 2024 to raise awareness on elephant conservation and protection.

A detailed report titled 'Suggested Measures to Mitigate Elephant & Other Wildlife Train Collisions on Vulnerable Railway Stretches in India' had also been prepared after surveys across 127 railway stretches covering 3,452 km.

Of these, 77 stretches spanning 1,965 km in 14 states were prioritised for mitigation, with site-specific interventions suggested.

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