High Court orders CBI inquiry into death of Fr. James Mukalel

High Court orders CBI inquiry into death of Fr. James Mukalel

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Aug 18, 2011 : The High Court of Karnataka has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the unnatural death of Fr. James Mukalel, the in-charge parish priest of St. Xaviers Church, Padavu in Puttur, which was registered by the Belthangady police. Fr. Mukalel died on June 29, 2009, and his parents feel that he was murdered and that he did not commit suicide.

Advocate Prince Isaac, who is representing Mr. Sebastian Mukalel, the father of Fr. James, told reporters that Justice Mohan Shantana Goudar has ordered that the CBI should investigate the case. Accordingly, the court has directed the chief secretary, principal home secretary, DGP, SP, DK district, and SI of Belthangady Police Station to hand over all the records related to the case to the CBI and extend full support to the CBI.

Stating that his clients received a copy of the court order recently, the lawyer said that he will request the CBI to take over the case at the earliest possible in accordance with the High Court order.

It may be recalled that Fr. Mukalel’s naked body was found about 200m from the house of his companion V. D. Francis at Kuntady near Thottady with his motorcycle parked close by on July 30, 2009. His personal belongings were near his body and traces of human excreta were found on various parts of his body. Advocate Isaac says that all this indicates that Fr. Mukalel was murdered in a cold blooded manner.

 

His personal belongings were found next to the body. Traces of human excreta were found on the face, eyelids and other parts of the body, Prince said, adding that the circumstances clearly indicated a cold-blooded murder. The vicar general of Belthangady lodged a complaint at the Belthangady police station and the police wrote it off as an unnatural death.

The report of the postmortem conducted on the body of Fr. Mukalel did not reveal the cause of death. However, the family insisted on a second postmortem, which was held at Calicut Medical College, and this post mortem report stated that there were marks of injury on the body. The first postmortem report made no mention of these injuries; moreover, the victim’s height and weight were incorrectly recorded. While Fr. Mukalel was 172cms tall and weighed 84kgs, his postmortem report indicated that his height was 166cms and that his weight was 66kgs.

Fr. Mukalel’s ailing father Sebastian and mother Rosamma hope that the CBI investigations will throw light on the mysterious death of their son.