Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, who was a witness in the rape case filed by a nun against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, was on Monday found dead under "mysterious circumstances" in Dasuya in Punjab's Hoshairpur district, police said. Kattuthara, 62, was found unconscious in his room on Monday morning and was taken to a local hospital where he was declared brought dead, they said.

Police said the cause of the death would be known after postmortem. According to the police, no visible injury marks were found on the body. "There was vomit in the room," said Deputy Superintendent of Police A R Sharma.