Sister Lucy claims she is being targeted for taking on Bishop Franco Mulakkal.
Sister Lucy Kalapura, a nun expelled earlier this month on charges of indiscipline, has alleged that she was locked inside her convent at Wayanad on Sunday. Police have registered a case of wrongful confinement under Section 342 of the Indian Penal Code.
Sister Lucy said she had returned from a two-day trip early that day, following which she got ready to leave for mass at 6:30 am. However, she realised only then that the convent door was locked. When nobody responded to her calls, Sister Lucy called the police. They managed to contact a superior in the church and finally get the door opened.
Sister Lucy was expelled by the Franciscan Clarist Congregation on disciplinary grounds earlier this month, following which she appealed against the decision before the Catholic Church in Rome. She also alleged that she was being isolated by other nuns.
The reasons cited by the congregation for expelling the nun were dress code violations; buying a car; disobeying the authorities; getting involved in large monetary transactions by publishing a book and bringing out a music CD; not submitting her salary to the convent; and making media appearances since September 20, 2018.
However, Sister Lucy maintains that the actual reason for her expulsion was her participation in protests against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who is accused of raping a nun on 13 occasions between 2014 and 2016. The bishop is now out on bail, and the case against him is being heard in a Kottayam court.
Incidentally, the congregation had written a letter to Sister Lucy's mother on August 10 - asking that she be taken back home. "I'm very afraid... they are killing me little by little, trying to take away all my happiness," she had earlier told NDTV. "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."