COCHIN: Latest in the series of scandalous allegations against Kerala church members, the family of a nun claimed that a priest called up to offer land in return for withdrawing rape case against a Bishop.


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A purported audio conversation between the priest and a friend of the alleged victim has emerged. The call is now being investigated by the police.


The church in Kerala is facing a string of sleaze allegations. 


In a complaint to the Kottayam district police chief last month, the 46-year-old nun had alleged that Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal raped her and had unnatural sex with her multiple times at a small town near Kottayam between 2014 and 2016. 


She approached police after the Bishop filed a complaint against her and others, accusing them of blackmailing.  


Meanwhile, Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reject the National Commission for Women's recommendation that confessions in churches be banned over fears they could lead to blackmailing of women.


Observing that confession is the fundamental belief of Christian churches, the Minister of State for Tourism, in a letter to PM Modi, termed the NCW's recommendation to the government, seeking a ban on confession in churches, "immature".


"I have written to the prime minister and also to the home minister. I met the home minister and had a discussion with him. I told him this must be rejected", Alphons said.


Sharma, while referring to incidents of rape and sexual assault in churches in Kerala, had alleged that priests pressure women into revealing their secrets and exploit them.


The NCW's recommendation came following an allegation by the husband of a homemaker that four priests of an Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala used her confession to blackmail and sexually exploit her.


The case is being investigated by the local police.


The Kerala Catholic Bishop's Council (KCBC) had termed as "shocking" the NCW's recommendation to the Union Home Ministry to ban the "Sacrament of Confession" among Christians.


With agency inputs