Father Kuriakose, who testified against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, found dead in church room in Punjab

Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, who testified against Bishop Franco Mulakkal in the case of alleged rape of a nun in Kerala, died under mysterious circumstances on Monday morning.

According to his relatives, he was found dead in a room attached to a church at Dasuya in Punjab.

“The 62-year-old Father Kuriakose used to live at St. Paul’s Church in Dasuya and he was found unconscious today (Monday) morning in his room. Later, he was taken to hospital where he was declared dead,” said Daljit Singh Khakh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Hoshiarpur.

Mr. Khakh added that ”no injuries have been found on the body, he had vomited on bed and tablet of blood pressure were found near him. A panel of doctors will conduct the postmortem examination, following which the cause of death could be ascertained.”

The relatives have filed a complaint with Alappuzha District police chief. S. Surendran, demanding a detailed probe into the death of the 67-year-old priest, who hailed from Pallippuram near Cherthala in Alappuzha..

Fr. Kattuthara had alleged that he was constantly threatened by church officials for supporting the nun belonging to the Missionaries of Jesus under the Jalandhar diocese.

Bishop Mulakkal was arrested on September 21on a case registered by the Kuravilangad police in Kottayam district. He was granted bail by the Kerala High Court on October 15 under stringent conditions.

The nun had alleged that she had been raped by the bishop from May 5, 2014 to May 6, 2016 on 14 occasions in a room attached to the St. Francis Mission Home, Kuruvilangad.