The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath, on Saturday demanded the quashing of the case filed against two Kerala nuns who were granted bail earlier in the day by an NIA court in Chhattisgarh.
“First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who worked tirelessly to ensure that justice prevailed. We are all grateful,” Archbishop Thazhath said, adding, “Everyone knows the kind of selfless work the two sisters have been doing. What happened to them was absolutely wrong. We now request that the case against them be quashed.”
Thazhath also underlined the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom, saying, “We have one of the best Constitutions in the world, which upholds religious freedom. Christianity has a 2,000-year-old presence in India. We have conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah that we do not indulge in religious conversion. It is some fringe elements who are targeting us despite us having done no wrong.”
Earlier in the day, the NIA court in Bilaspur granted bail to Sisters Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate congregation under the Syro-Malabar Church. The two had been arrested on July 26 on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion.
The court, which concluded the bail hearing on Friday, directed the sisters to submit a bond of Rs 50,000 each along with two sureties. They were also ordered to surrender their passports.
The news was met with widespread relief and celebrations across Kerala. During a prayer session at St Mary’s Church in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council president Cardinal Baselios Cleemis broke the news of the bail, which was received with loud cheers from the faithful.
Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, V.D. Satheesan, welcomed the decision. “This was the news we were all waiting for. It is deeply unfortunate that such an incident occurred in the first place, but we are happy justice has prevailed,” he said.
Shone George, vice-president of the Kerala BJP, who was present in Bilaspur, said the court’s order would soon be presented to the jail authorities, following which the nuns would be released.
According to the Mother Superior of their convent, the two nuns plan to first visit their families in Kerala after their release, before resuming their duties.
The sisters had been working at a hospital in Agra and were accompanying three women from Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district to the city for employment as kitchen staff in a convent. They were intercepted by Bajrang Dal activists at a railway station, who accused them of forced religious conversion and human trafficking.
Based on their complaint, police arrested the two nuns and a man identified as Sukhman Mandavi.
With the court’s order, the ordeal that began on July 26 is expected to end once the bail formalities are completed and the trio walks free.