Kerala Nuns Arrested in Chhattisgarh: Amit Shah Meets MPs, Assures Govt Won't Oppose Bail Plea

A lower court in Chhattisgarh said that it does not have the jurisdiction to hear cases under human trafficking and the nuns may have to go to an NIA court for further legal action.

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured Parliamentarians from Kerala that the Chhattisgarh government will not oppose the bail petitions of two nuns arrested for alleged religious conversion. He said the nuns can approach the trial court again, stating that the sessions court's decision to transfer the case to the NIA court was wrong. Amit Shah indicated that the nuns would get bail by August 1. Amit Shah told the MPs from Kerala that the arrest was not made due to political motive and that he will take efforts to close the case once they get bail.

According to reports, the nuns identified as Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis, affiliated with the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) church, were accompanying three women to Agra to place them in convents for domestic work. Sukhman Mandavi, who was accompanying them, was also arrested. They were detained by the Durg railway police and booked for human trafficking and religious conversion. Father Sebastian Poomattam, Vicar General of the Raipur Archdiocese, told The News Minute that a ticket examiner questioned the group and alerted Bajrang Dal members. “All the women were above 18 years of age,” he added.

Congress MPs NK Premachandran, Benny Behanan and Francis George had sought the immediate intervention of the Central government for the release of the two nuns arrested at Durg railway station. The three MPs were part of the delegation, which visited the nuns who have been lodged in prison. The arrest snowballed into a major political firestorm with several MPs raising the issue in Parliament as well. 

Disposing of the bail, a sessions court in Durg said that it does not have the jurisdiction to hear cases under human trafficking and the nuns may have to go to an NIA court for further legal action. Amit Shah said that the Chhattisgarh government will appeal to the High Court against the lower's court verdict. “The state government itself will file a petition to get the case released from the NIA court. Instructions have been given to file a bail application today,” Amit Shah said.

Arrest of Nuns Triggers Political Row

Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary D Raja accused the BJP and RSS of pursuing a "politics of hatred and polarisation." Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat visited the Durg Central Jail in Chhattisgarh, where two Kerala-based nuns are currently lodged following their arrest on charges of trafficking and forced religious conversion.

Raja said, "Our party and CPI(M) sent a delegation to Chhattisgarh. Our MPs and top women leaders went there. They met with nuns and raised the issue. Now, our MPs are trying to address this at the centre. They are attempting to meet the Home Minister Amit Shah. Let us wait and see what the central government will say. But the BJP and RSS divide people in the name of religion and have become very aggressive in attacking minorities.”

Karat, who was joined by CPI leaders Annie Raja and other members of a party delegation, met the nuns and later condemned the arrests as unjust, calling them part of a "targeted attack" on the Christian community in the state. “Two nuns who have been serving the poor here for years were jailed today on the basis of a fake allegation and a manufactured lie. A tribal boy who had no fault was also beaten up and jailed today. What kind of law is this that people of Bajrang Dal or any RSS outfit beat those girls and a boy like this in front of the police and law enforcement agencies?” she asked.

On July 27, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) also strongly condemned the alleged incident, claiming that, according to reports, the women had explicit written permission from their parents but were physically assaulted after being arrested.