Two Catholic nuns from the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) were arrested at Durg Railway Station in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, July 26, along with a young man, while accompanying three women aged between 18 and 19 from Narayanpur district. They were charged with human trafficking and religious conversion under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act, 1968.
Sukhman Mandavi, a resident of Narayanpur, along with two nuns, Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis, were arrested. The nuns are originally from Kerala.
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," he told TNM.
The incident escalated after a railway ticket examiner questioned the group on the platform. "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," Fr Poomattam said.
Railway police detained the nuns, the man, and the three women. Bajrang Dal members protested at the police station, pressing officers to register a First Information Report (FIR). The women were later moved to a government run shelter home, while the nuns and the man were remanded to judicial custody until August 8.
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. "We have reason to believe that the young women were coerced into changing their statements. They were reportedly forced to claim that they were being taken against their will," she said.
"We have all the evidence of parental consent forms, identification, and documentation that proves no force or conversion was involved," Sister Asha Paul added.
The police have filed charges under Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (trafficking of persons) and Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act (1968).
Members of the Christian community have strongly condemned the arrests, calling it part of a growing trend of harassment and false accusations by right wing groups. "Priests have been arrested on fabricated charges. This is yet another example," said a priest from the region, speaking anonymously. He further alleged a pattern of rising hostility in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. "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."
AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal wrote to the union government Home Minister and the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister 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," his letter stated.
According to data compiled by the United Christian Forum (UCF), reported incidents targeting Christians have surged from 127 cases in 2014 to 834 in 2024 highlighting what many see as a systematic and escalating campaign of intimidation against the minority community.