NEW DELHI: The Vatican has accepted a request from a bishop in India to be temporarily relieved of his pastoral duties as police questioned him for a second day over accusations that he raped a nun.

In a letter seen by Reuters, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, said Pope Francis had received the bishop’s request to be temporarily relieved of his pastoral responsibilities.

The Vatican had accepted the request, the letter said.

The nun from the southern Indian state of Kerala has accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who heads the Diocese of Jalandhar, of raping her repeatedly over a period of two years.

The bishop has not been charged, but has given interviews denying wrongdoing and saying he wanted to defend his name. He wrote to the Vatican on Sunday asking to step down temporarily as protests and calls for his arrest grew in the state.

“Having considered all circ­­umstances, the Holy Father has accepted this request,” the letter said.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2018