‘Human Rights Violations Inside Convents Falling On Deaf Ears’: Nun Who Was Expelled For Protesting Against Rape-Accused Bishop In Kerala

Lucy Kalappura, a nun who rebelled against the church as it was not acting against priests who indulged in sexual abuse, has said that “human rights violations inside convents have started falling on deaf ears”.

Malayalam daily Kerala Kaumudi reported that in a Facebook post on the death of a 21-year-old woman studying to become a nun, Kalappura, who has been expelled by the Vatican as a nun, wondered if Kerala police will plug all loopholes and conduct a fair probe.

“What would have happened to that sweet girl? Who is responsible for her death? Will there be justice at least in this case? Or, will we have to see her parents wandering without getting justice?,” asked the former nun, expelled by the Vatican for leading a protest against Roman Catholic Bishop Franco Mullakkal who has been charged with raping nuns.

Kalappura, who has exposed the dark deeds inside the church in her autobiography Karthavinte Namathil (In the name of Christ), said she would not want to be a mute spectator anymore.

She put out a long list of nuns found dead in convents under mysterious circumstances between 1987 and 2018.

Kalappura, who has said that the church was functioning like an underworld in her autobiography, alleged that “unholy and immoral activities” are taking place in certain convents.

On Thursday (7 May), Divya P Johnny, the woman who was studying to become a nun, was found dead in a well inside the compound of Paliakkara Beselian Convent in Thiruvalla.

Police said a few inmates rushed to the well on hearing the sound of a thud and splash around noon and found Divya inside.

The convent authorities immediately informed the Fire Department and the police.

Though the woman was rushed to a private hospital, she was declared dead on arrival. Police suspect it to be a case of suicide, saying “no foul play is suspected”.

In September 2018, the body of a 54-year-old nun, Susan Mathew, was found in a well inside a convent in Kerala’s Kollam district.

In December 2015, a 33-year-old nun, later identified as Stella Maria, was found dead in a well of Sacred Heart convent at Uluppuni, which is around 10 kilometres from Vagamon in Idukki district of Kerala.

Sister Abhaya, a Catholic nun, was found dead in a water well in St Pius X Convent in Kottayam on 27 March 1992.

According to the CBI, two priests entered the convent through the kitchen on the day of the crime and were engaged in an illicit relationship with another nun.

Abhaya happened to witness it and she was allegedly killed to hide the matter. Her body was thrown into the convent’s well.