Meet Sisters Preethy Mary, Vandana Francis: Kerala nuns who walked free from jail in conversion case
The Catholic nuns were identified as Sister Preethy Mary and Sister Vandana Francis. They were received outside the jail by several leaders from Kerala, including LDF MPs and Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Earlier in the day, the special court of Principal District and Sessions Judge (NIA court) Sirajuddin Qureshi at Bilaspur granted bail to the two nuns along with co-accused Sukaman Mandavi on the condition that they surrender their passports and not leave the country. They were also asked to submit a bond of ₹ 50,000 each with two sureties and cooperate with the probe.
Sister Preethi Mary is a nun from Kerala's Ernakulam district. She hailed from a family of seven siblings and is the oldest. She arrived in Chhattisgarh as part of her philanthropic leanings.
On the other side, Sister Vandana belongs from Udayagiri village in Kerala's Kannur district. She used to work in a pharmacy in Chhattisgarh.
Preethi and Vandana both belong to the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) congregation, headquartered at Cherthala in Kerala's Alappuzha district, reported the Indian Express.
Last week, the two Catholic nuns were taken into custody at Durg Railway Station in Chhattisgarh. They reportedly arrived to pick up women coming to work at a local convent, but were arrested along with a third person based on a complaint by a Bajrang Dal functionary.
In the complaint, the Bajrang Dal functionary alleged that they were forcibly converting and trafficking three girls from Narayanpur.
However, the kin of two of the three tribal women involved firmly denied police allegations a day after their arrest. They said that the arrests were politically driven and devoid of merit.
Their arrest stirred a political storm, and both Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan raised serious concerns over the incident.
In fact, Vijayan urged a direct intervention of PM Modi, citing the families of the nuns were unable to contact them since the detention. Also, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also condemned the arrest.
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