Kerala nuns held in Chhattisgarh for alleged religious conversion, bishops’ group calls case ‘false’

Two nuns from Kerala and a man were arrested at the Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh on Saturday for alleged human trafficking and religious conversion, The News Minute reported.

The nuns – Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis – are members of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate, a congregation under the Syro-Malabar Church in Alappuzha district’s Cherthala town and were working at a hospital in Agra, Mathrubhumi reported.

The two nuns and the man, identified as Sukhman Mandavi, were accompanying three women from Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district.

Sebastian Poomattam, vicar general of the Raipur Archdiocese, told The News Minute that the nuns were taking the women to Agra where they had been offered jobs of kitchen helpers at a convent.

“They had the consent letters from their parents and were all above 18 years of age,” he added.

While at the railway station, a ticket examiner questioned the group on the platform.

“The girls and one man entered the platform where the nuns were waiting,” The News Minute quoted Poomattam as saying. “The examiner asked about their tickets, and they said the nuns had them.”

The vicar general claimed that the examiner informed members of the Hindutva group Bajrang Dal about the situation and that the outfit’s members “arrived in large numbers within minutes”.

The police detained the nuns, the man and the three women.

The Bajrang Dal...

Read more