Chhattisgarh court grants bail to Kerala nuns in trafficking, conversion case
The three—Sisters Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis from Kerala, and Sukaman Mandavi—were arrested by Government Railway Police (GRP) at Durg railway station on July 25, following a complaint filed by a local Bajrang Dal member.
The court granted conditional bail, including a directive that the accused surrender their passports and not leave the country.
Defence lawyer Amrito Das said the court granted bail on the condition that each accused furnish a bond of ₹50,000 with two sureties, cooperate in the investigation, surrender their passports, and not travel abroad. While there were additional conditions, the final detailed order was still awaited, he said.
Das added that the prosecution had not sought custody of the accused for further interrogation and that the girls in question were sent home.
Principal district and sessions judge (NIA court) Sirajuddin Qureshi had reserved the order on Friday after hearing their bail pleas.
The complaint alleged that the trio was involved in forcibly converting three young women from Narayanpur and trafficking them.
The arrest has triggered a major uproar, with opposition parties including the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), condemning the action and alleging religious targeting.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai, however, dismissed the criticism, stating, 'It was a legal procedure and bail has been granted in it.'
A delegation from the Kerala unit of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), comprising lawmakers Hibi Eden and Kodikunnil Suresh, visited Chhattisgarh on Friday to meet the arrested nuns. The delegation alleged that the transfer of the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court was a deliberate ploy to delay the bail process.
'There is a conspiracy behind shifting the case to the NIA court. It's intended to prolong the legal process and keep the nuns behind bars,' said Suresh.
The delegation said it had also approached the union home minister and written to the Prime Minister regarding the case.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old Kamleshwari Pradhan—one of the three women allegedly trafficked—accused Bajrang Dal activists of coercing her into giving a false statement against the nuns. She also alleged that police failed to properly document her version of events and said her family has been practising Christianity for the past four to five years.
The three women approached the Narayanpur district police superintendent's office on Saturday to file an FIR against Bajrang Dal members.
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