After protests, Kerala lawmakers meet arrested nuns in jail

Hans India

3 days ago

Chhattisgarh/Thiruvananthapuram: A delegation consisting of five lawmakers delegated by the All India Congress Committee (AICC), on Tuesday, met the two arrested nuns currently housed in a jail in Chhattisgarh.
Permission was first denied to the delegation while the Kerala BJP General Secretary Anoop Antony was given permission without any problems.
It was only after the intervention of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel that the AICC delegation got the permission to meet the two nuns.
On Tuesday, a lower court in Chhattisgarh rejected the bail plea of the two nuns and the church is now approaching a Sessions Court on Wednesday.
The nuns, Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis, posted with the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate, a congregation under the Syro-Malabar Church in Alappuzha district, were working at a hospital in Agra.
On August 26, the two nuns and the man, identified as Sukhman Mandavi, were accompanying three women from Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district to Uttar Pradesh's Agra, where they had been offered jobs as kitchen helpers at a Convent.
While they were waiting at the Chhattisgarh railway station, they were stopped by Bajrang Dal activists, and the police also arrived at the spot.
Both the nuns and the man were taken into custody and later produced before a local court, which sent them to judicial custody.
The lawmakers included Lok Sabha members Benny Behanan (Congress), N.K. Premachandran (Revolutionary Socialist Party), Francis George (Kerala Congress) and Saptagiri S. Ulaka (Congress) and Roji M. John (Congress).
The brother of the arrested nun Preeti was also in the delegation.
Speaking to the media soon after meeting the two distraught nuns, RSP legislator Premachandran said that they are rattled by what happened to them and continue to be in a state of shock.
"It's now crystal clear that the two sisters had no malafide intentions. They are residing in two different places and they met at the railway station in Chhattisgarh. It was at the railway station that angry Bajarang Dal activists started abusing them," he added.
"These Bajrang Dal activists searched the bags of the sisters and also the three women. A sum of Rs 2,000 was recovered from one woman and the Bajrang Dal activists was angrily asking if the money was given by the nuns," Premachandran said.
Congress legislator Behanan said that all the narratives that were floated at the time of arrest of the nuns has fallen flat.
"First they said the three young women are minors, which was proved false as they had their identity cards and also their Aadhar card. Then it was said the women was forcefully taken away, which has been denied by their parents," he added.
Biju, brother of Sister Preeti, said that he came all the way from Kerala just to see her and report to our aged parents that I met her.
"It was a really emotional meeting and we both broke into tears," Biju said, and added now we feel a bit relieved as we are now seeing to seek bail.
What has upset the AICC delegation was despite they being lawmakers they did not get any desired respect, while a BJP leader from Kerala Anoop Antony was given the permission.
"We will submit a report to the AICC on the pitiful condition of the two nuns who never did any wrong and we will again raise this issue in the Parliament on Wednesday," Behanan added.
Earlier on Tuesday, as a face saving measure Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar cleared the air about the arrest by saying there was a miscommunication.
"It's now clear that neither trafficking nor religious conversion has taken place. There was a miscommunication in the incident. We, the BJP, will stand with the nuns till they get justice. If required I myself will reach Chhattisgarh. I have had contacts with the Home Minister there," Chandrasekhar told the media in Delhi.
On Wednesday, various churches in Kerala are holding a protest in the way how the constitutional rights of the nuns was violated and they were put in jail.
After protests, Kerala lawmakers meet arrested nuns in jail