Nuns are innocent, say family members of tribal women

The Hindu

6 days ago

Days after the Chhattisgarh Police arrested three persons, including two Keralite nuns, on charges of trafficking and forcibly converting a few tribal women, the latter's family members have denied the police claim.
The kin said the women accompanied the nuns and a man from Narayanpur of their own volition, and that they are innocent.
However, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, on Monday (July 28, 2025), backed the arrests, saying that 'through inducement, an attempt was being made [by the arrested persons] to engage in human trafficking and conversion'.
The arrest sparked widespread protests from Delhi to Kerala on Monday (July 28, 2025).
Nuns Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis, and Sukaman Mandavi from Narayanpur were arrested on July 25 after a local Bajrang Dal member, Ravi Nigam, filed a complaint with the police, saying that Mr. Mandavi had brought three women to the Durg railway station, from where they had to go to Agra with the two nuns.
'They are being framed'
Speaking to The Hindu over the phone on Monday (July 28, 2025) evening, the sisters of two of the women rejected claims of forceful conversion, and said they themselves had consented to be taken to Agra for a job. Their family members did not have any objections either, they said.
'Our parents are no longer alive and I sent my sister with the nuns so that she could take up a nursing job in Agra. I myself had taken up a job with them in Lucknow and I realised a similar move would help her to become self-reliant. And my sister was completely in agreement. The sisters [nuns] are innocent. Even the boy [Mandavi] is being framed, we sent our sisters with him,' said the elder sister of one of the three women over phone from a police station in Durg.
The younger sister of another woman who was in Narayanpur also demanded the release of the nuns and said her sister left home on July 24, and that the family had converted to Christianity five years ago.
In a related development post the arrests, all three families gave a written submission to the Narayanpur Police on July 26 saying that they were aware that the women were being taken for jobs, said Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Robinson Guria.
On the question of families' consent and the basis for arrest, a Government Railway Police (GRP) officer said they were in the process of gathering corroborative evidence.
Safety issue, says CM
Even as senior police officers in the GRP or the State police were unavailable for comment, the Chief Minister backed the move and claimed the issue of women's safety was being given a 'political colour'.
'Three daughters from Narayanpur were promised nursing training and subsequent job placements. They were handed over to two nuns at the Durg station by a person from Narayanpur, who were taking the girls to Agra. Through inducement, an attempt was being made to engage in human trafficking and conversion,' Mr. Sai said.
'This is a serious matter related to women's safety. The investigation is still ongoing. The matter is under judicial review, and the law will take its course.'
'Chhattisgarh is a peaceful State where people of all religions and communities live in harmony. It is extremely unfortunate to give a political colour to the issue related to the safety of our Bastar daughters,' he wrote on X.