Franco Mulakkal

Franco Mulakkal is an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was a member of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, until changing his sui iuris to the Latin church in lieu of mission work. He worked as the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar from 2013 until his arrest in 2018 on charges of raping a nun. He is the first bishop in Indian Catholic church to be arrested for being accused in a rape case. In January 2022 the Kerala district court declared him innocent without the witnesses changing their statements. The court heard the statements of 39 witnesses in the case and he was acquitted of all charges. But the nuns are still fighting for their cause. He was forced to resign as Jalandhar bishop by the Vatican, and in June 2023 Pope accepted his resignation.