The survivor in the case had filed a complaint with the Kottayam Police chief about the sexual abuse from 2014-16 on June 27, 2018.
The petitioner is a 44-year-old former superior general of Missionaries of Jesus, a congregation functioning under Jalandhar Diocese in Punjab. Bishop Mulakkal is the patron of the congregation.
There were 39 prosecution witnesses and six defence witnesses in the case and the prosecution had submitted 122 documents while the defence had submitted 56 documents before court. The court through an order had barred the media from covering the in-camera proceedings of the trial.
The chargesheet in the nun rape case was filed on April 9, 2019. The trial got over on December 29, 2021.
Pleading innocence, Bishop Mulakkal had approached Kerala High Court and Supreme Court to clear him from the case, but the higher courts asked him to face trial.
Police arrested him on September 21, 2018, a fortnight after five nun companions of the complainant staged a sit-in in Kochi. The bishop was jailed but released on bail on October 15, 2018.
Ahead of his arrest, the Vatican removed him from the diocese’s administrative roles by appointing an apostolic administrator.
A special investigation team of Kerala police probed the allegations and filed a 2,000-page charge sheet against Bishop Mulakkal in April 2019.
Among the witnesses included Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church.
Adv Githesh J Babu was the Special Public Prosecutor in the case. The defence was represented by senior advocates B Raman Pillai and Adv C S Ajayan.