Kerala nun Lucy Kalappura, who was expelled from her congregation earlier this month for having a “lifestyle in violation of the proper law”, filed a police complaint against a priest and five nuns for attempting to defame her, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday. The police registered a case against the priest from the Mananthawady diocese in Wayanad, Kerala, and the nuns of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation for allegedly sharing a video that portrayed Kalappura in a poor light.
The video purportedly showed the priest, Father Nobel, criticising the nun for bringing two men into the convent through the kitchen. However, the nun clarified that they were journalists who had come to report on her being locked up by other nuns. On Monday, Kalappura had claimed that the doors of the convent were locked from the outside by the nuns to prevent her from attending mass at a nearby church. She filed a police complaint on the same day.
Kalappura said that the intention behind sharing the video was “character assassination”. “There are many attempts to smoke me out of the convent,” Hindustan Times quoted her as saying. “Since I have filed an appeal against my expulsion, I will not leave the convent till I get information from the Vatican. I am expecting more trouble.”
Kalappura was one of the nuns who held a protest in Kochi last year against bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, who was accused of raping a nun. She is currently staying at another convent of her congregation in Wayanad, even though she has been asked to leave the premises.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women wrote to the Kerala police chief, requesting swift action against those involved. “We will not accept people holding respectable positions misusing their authority for wrongful actions,” NDTV reported, citing the letter written by National Commission for Women Chairperson Rekha Sharma.
Kalappura claimed that the other nuns at the convent did not mingle with her after her expulsion. “I’m very afraid... they are killing me little by little, trying to take away all my happiness,” NDTV quoted her as saying last week. “My colleagues in the convent keep smiling, talking among themselves. They have completely isolated me. They don’t even ask me to join them to eat or anything. I have come to terms with it, but it’s still very hard.”
The expelled nun has filed an appeal before the Vatican earlier this week. In her dismissal letter, the Franciscan Clarist Congregation had said Kalappura was unable to give a “satisfactory explanation” for buying a car, taking a loan for it, getting a driver’s licence and publishing poems.
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