Daijiworld Media Network - Raipur/Kochi
Raipur/Kochi, Aug 2: After spending eight days in jail, two Kerala-based nuns were released from Central Jail in Durg, Chhattisgarh, on Saturday at 3:40 p.m., hours after securing bail from a special NIA court in Bilaspur in connection with a controversial human trafficking and forced religious conversion case.
Though visibly exhausted, the two women – Sister Preeti Mary and Sister Vandana Francis of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate, a Syro-Malabar Catholic congregation from Alappuzha – smiled and embraced their supporters as they walked free.
Outside the jail, several Kerala lawmakers and leaders were present, including Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MPs Jose K. Mani, John Brittas, Santhosh Kumar, Roji M. John, and MLAs Anwar Sadath and Chandy Oommen.
Chandrasekhar claimed the bail could have come sooner if not for "political drama" and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister for their intervention. He said senior church leaders had reached out for help earlier in the week, following which he assured them of action.
Due to bail restrictions, the nuns did not speak to the press. They were quietly escorted away by relatives from Kerala and taken to a nearby school before they are expected to return home.
The court granted them bail on the condition of a Rs 50,000 bond and two sureties each. They were ordered to surrender their passports, avoid influencing witnesses, and report biweekly to a local police station in Chhattisgarh.
The arrests date back to July 26, when the nuns were stopped by Bajrang Dal activists at a railway station while accompanying three tribal women from Narayanpur district to Agra for jobs at a convent. The activists alleged an attempt at forced religious conversion and human trafficking, leading to the arrest of the nuns and a local man, Sukhman Mandavi, who was also granted bail and released on Saturday.
The nuns are expected to return to Kerala to reunite with their families before resuming their religious duties.