After ‘Lock up’ FIR, Kerala Nun Alleges Harassment on Social Media

Sister Kalappura had earlier alleged that she was locked up in the Karackamala convent by convent authorities.

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(Photo: The News Minute)

A Kerala nun, who supported a protest against a Bishop accused of rape, on Tuesday, 20 August, accused a Catholic priest of Mananthavady diocese of using a social media platform to "humiliate" her.

Sister Lucy Kalappura alleged that the priest, who is part of public relations team of the Mananthavady diocese of the Catholic Church, posted the CCTV visual of media persons visiting her in the convent on social media.

The nun was expelled by the Aluva-based Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) early this month for her lifestyle “in violation” of the proper law of the FCC.

Following her expulsion, the congregation had asked the nun to leave the nunnery.

The nun alleged that the CCTV visuals were collected with the help of her fellow nuns in the FCC convent at Karackamala in Wayanad.

“In the video, he (the priest) used vulgar language to humiliate me. He did so to disgrace me, to humiliate me.”

Sister Kalappura, talking to reporters

The nun said she would lodge a police complaint against the priest.

The Mananthavady diocese disowned the views expressed by the priest in the video, saying it was his personal views

“Whatever the priest said in the video are his personal views. We were not consulted before posting such a video in the social media,” PRO of the Diocese, Fr Jose Kocharackal, told PTI.

He said the priest, who often reacts through social media platform on issues happening around him, is a member of the PRO team of the diocese.

Allegations of ‘Lock up’

The issue came to light a day after the Vellamunda police registered a case against the FCC convent authorities at Karakkamala following a complaint of illegal confinement by the nun.

Sister Kalappura had alleged that she was locked up in the Karackamala convent by convent authorities to prevent her from attending mass at a church in the neighbourhood.

Church authorities have rejected the allegations, saying that the nuns who went for Holy Mass had locked the doors to ensure the safety of one of their fellow nuns who had stayed back due to her illness.

Sister Kalappura has filed an appeal before the Vatican against Franciscan Clarist Congregation's decision to expel her from it.

In its notice to the nun early in January, the congregation had termed as “grave violations,” Sister Kalappura possessing a driving licence, buying a car, taking a loan for it and publishing a book and spending money without the permission and knowledge of her superiors.

She had dismissed the14 charges levelled against her by the congregation, saying many of them were a "deliberate attempt" to paint her in "bad light."

In its notices, the congregation had alleged that the nun violated FCC's dress code in public "without any permission" and "caused grave external scandal and harm to the Church" by participating in the protest by 'Save Our Sisters Action Council' on 20 September 2018, in Kochi, seeking the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun in Kerala.