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The two Kerala nuns who were arrested in Chhattisgarh last month met Bharatiya Janata Party state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar at his residence in Delhi on Saturday, August 16. Sisters Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis, both belonging to the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI), were accompanied by relatives during the visit.
“We shared our concerns about the case with Rajeev ji. We also thanked him for intervening and helping us. We expect the case will be dismissed,” a relative told the media after the meeting.
Chandrasekhar later confirmed the meeting in a social media post, saying, “Sister Preeti Mary and Sister Vandana Francis visited me in Delhi today. They expressed their happiness over the interventions made by the BJP, including in securing their bail.”
The arrests had come as a major setback to the BJP in Kerala, where the party has been trying to strengthen its outreach to the Syro-Malabar Catholic community.
The two nuns were detained at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh on July 26, along with Sukhman Mandavi, after Bajrang Dal activists accused them of trafficking and attempting religious conversion of three young women, including an Adivasi. The trio was lodged at Durg Central Jail before being granted bail by a special National Investigation Agency court in Bilaspur on August 2.
The incident triggered widespread protests across Kerala, Delhi, and Chhattisgarh. Even as visuals of Bajrang Dal activists opposing the bail process went viral, the protests had been strengthened across the country.
After the arrests, when the protests reached their peak, Rajeev Chandrasekhar held a closed-door meeting with Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India president and Thrissur Archbishop Andrews Thazhath at the Archdiocese headquarters on August 1. Following the discussion, Archbishop Thazhath told the media that Chandrasekhar had promised full support and shared the assurances conveyed by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
Addressing the media and church representatives, Chandrasekhar had confirmed that he had already discussed the matter with the Prime Minister and Home Minister, who assured that the bail process for the arrested nuns would not face obstacles.
On August 2, Principal District and Sessions Judge Sirajuddin Qureshi ordered their release on the condition that they surrender passports, furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each, and provide two sureties. The court’s decision came despite the Public Prosecutor’s objections, citing the early stage of the investigation.