Trafficking-conversion case: Chhattisgarh court grants bail to Kerala nuns

Catholic nuns Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis, with Sukaman Mandavi, were held at Durg station on July 25 over alleged forced conversion and trafficking of three girls from Narayanpur

A special court in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district on Saturday granted bail to two nuns from Kerala and one other person arrested on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion, with a condition that they surrender their passports and not leave the country.

 

Principal District and Sessions Judge (NIA court) Sirajuddin Qureshi had reserved the order on their bail pleas after a hearing on Friday, defence lawyer Amrito Das said. 

The court on Saturday granted them bail on the condition that they submit a bond of Rs 50,000 each with two sureties, not leave the country, and surrender their passports, defence lawyer said.

 

 

They will also have to cooperate in the investigation, Das said, adding that there were a few more conditions, but the final order was yet to be received.

 

Catholic nuns Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis, both from Kerala, along with Sukaman Mandavi, were arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) at the Durg railway station on July 25, following a complaint from a local Bajrang Dal functionary, who accused them of forcibly converting three girls from Narayanpur and trafficking them.

 

The arrest of the nuns resulted in a political slugfest with the Congress and CPI(M) criticising the police action and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai accusing the parties of politicising the issue.  "This is a very joyful day. We made efforts for their release. We set out 5 days ago, and we've completed whatever tasks we were given," Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar told the mediaperson outside Durg jail, where he received the two nuns after their release. 

"I thank God and everyone for this good news... The two sisters had come to work in a hospital with the permission of their parents... A mob of extremists attacked them... and they were arrested under totally false accusations," Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) President and Thrissur Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath told ANI.

 

Reacting to the development, the chief minister said, "It was a legal procedure and bail has been granted in it."

 

Following the bail hearing on Friday, Das had said that the prosecution had not asked for the trio's custody for interrogation, and the alleged victims had been sent back to their homes.

 

Talking to reporters, public prosecutor Dauram Chandravanshi also confirmed that bail has been granted to the nuns and one other person, with certain conditions.

 

Meanwhile, the three alleged victim women in the case arrived at the office of the Superintendent of Police in Narayanpur district headquarters seeking to lodge an FIR against Bajrang Dal activists for allegedly assaulting them and forcing them to give false statements against nuns before the Durg GRP.