Three Including Two Nuns Arrested in Chhattisgarh After Bajrang Dal Alleges 'Religiou
Three Including Two Nuns Arrested in Chhattisgarh After Bajrang Dal Alleges 'Religious Conversion'
M.U.H
28/07/202547
New Delhi: Following a protest by members of the Bajrang Dal, the Chhattisgarh police on Saturday (July 26) arrested two Catholic nuns from the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) at the Durg Railway Station in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.
The two nuns and a young man were arrested while accompanying three women aged between 18 and 19 from Narayanpur district.
The were charged for offences including human trafficking and religious conversion under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act, 1968, reported The NewsMinute.
The man was identified as Sukhman Mandavi, a resident of Narayanpur, who was arrested along with two nuns – Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis – who are originally from Kerala.
The TNM report said that according to Father Sebastian Poomattam, Vicar General of the Raipur Archdiocese, the nuns were accompanying the women to place them in convents in Agra for domestic work.
“These women were being offered jobs as kitchen helpers with a monthly salary between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000. They had the consent letters from their parents and were all above 18 years of age,” said Fr Poomattam.
The protest by Bajrang Dal members took place after a ticket examiner questioned the group and the railway police detained them.
“The girls and one man entered the platform where the nuns were waiting. The examiner asked about their tickets, and they said the nuns had them. Soon after, the examiner informed local Bajrang Dal members, who arrived in large numbers within minutes,” said Fr Poomattam.
After the FIR was registered against the three people on the insistence of Bajrang Dal members, the women were sent to a government shelter while the two nuns and the man were sent to judicial custody till August 18.
Sister Asha Paul, a nun from the Congregation of the Holy Family in Delhi, alleged that no church representatives were allowed to meet the detained nuns and that there is reason to suspect that the young women were coerced into changing their statements to say that they were being taken against their will.
“We have all the evidence of parental consent forms, identification, and documentation that proves no force or conversion was involved,” said sister Paul.
Christian community condemns arrests
The incident has led to members of the Christian community strongly condemning the arrests.
“Priests have been arrested on fabricated charges. This is yet another example. Mob violence, police cases, and attacks on church run institutions are becoming alarmingly frequent. The silence or complicity of BJP led state governments has only emboldened such groups,” the TNM report quoted a priest as saying after the incident.
Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal has written to the union home minister and the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh demanding strict action.
“It is deeply disturbing that self proclaimed vigilantes can instigate communal tension and make baseless accusations of conversion and trafficking without any legal foundation. Despite clear documentation and parental consent, the authorities have chosen to keep the nuns and the man in custody, reportedly under political pressure. This is a clear miscarriage of justice and an attack on the rights of minority communities,” says the letter written by Venugopal.
