A sessions court in Chhattisgarh's Durg district on Wednesday said it does not have the jurisdiction to hear the bail applications of the two Kerala nuns, adding that the matter should be heard by the National Investigation Agency designated bench in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur high court.
The court, while disposing of the bail pleas, said they may have to move a special court for relief.
Quoting the court’s stand, lawyer Rajkumar Tiwari, who spoke to PTI, said, “The sessions court disposed of the bail application of the nuns observing that it does not have the jurisdiction to hear cases under section 143 (human trafficking) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and that they may have to move a special court for further legal action.”
The court told the police that they have 15 days to write to the central government to handle this case in an NIA court.
Still in custody
At present, both nuns are lodged in the Durg Central Jail. Their arrest and continued custody have raised concerns among church groups and human rights advocates, given the nature of the charges and the background of the accused.
The nuns’ lawyer, Tamaskar Tondon, had said on Tuesday, “The FIR registered by the Government Railway Police in Durg is based on mere suspicion that a crime has happened. The GRP have not done any preliminary inquiry; hence, the FIR is quashable. Further, the women (the nuns are accused of trafficking) are all adults, and their family members did not have an issue with them going away for work. Also, the FIR is registered under pressure by a woman seen in the video moving in and out of the police station.”
The nuns, Preeti Marry and Vandana Francis, and one more person, Sukaman Mandavi, were arrested on July 18 at the Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh on allegations that they were involved in forceful conversion and human trafficking.
The FIR, registered under sections of the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, was based on a complaint by a local Bajrang Dal worker, who alleged that the accused forcibly converted three women from Narayanpur district and were attempting to traffic them.
However, the families of the three women have denied claims that they were trafficked.
Opposition leaders protest
The arrest of the nuns has since snowballed into a major political flashpoint not only in Chhattisgarh but also in Kerala and Delhi, where Left Democratic Front and United Democratic Front MPs from Kerala held separate protests outside Parliament.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday slammed the BJP over alleged atrocities on minorities as she protested in the Parliament House complex along with some other opposition MPs from Kerala.
"Some nuns from Kerala were very badly ill-treated. They were accused of things they were not doing. They were manhandled and then taken away by Chhattisgarh police," Priyanka Gandhi told reporters.
"We are demanding an end to this kind of atrocity against minorities. It is not fair at all, these are ladies..they cannot be manhandled and treated like this. You cannot just accuse people of things they are not doing," she said.
Priyanka Gandhi alleged that the government doesn't take action on anything except their publicity, their PR and when elections are coming what face they want to show to the public.
"They do not take action on anything concrete, so I don't expect action but it is our job to push them and pressurise them as much as we can," she said.
'Targeted attack' on Christians
On Wednesday, Brinda Karat, a member of CPI (M) politburo, tried to meet the nuns. She said later, “This (persecution of minorities) is going on everywhere in the country. Even during Bhupesh Baghel’s rule, these incidents were happening. We do not see it from a political lens. This is a women’s issue. The women (the nuns are accused of trafficking) are adults. Why do they need to give a permission letter for going with anyone anywhere for work?”
Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Baghel called it “the politics of polarisation”. “Our party’s general secretary has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, and we also raised the issue in Lok Sabha. In whichever states the BJP is in power, they target the minorities there for the sake of votes,” Baghel wrote on X.
Kerala BJP distances itself from CM Sai’s claims
BJP Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar strongly rejected Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s assertion that the nuns were involved in trafficking and religious conversion. “We believe that no such things have happened there. It is an allegation. Let's see later who has made all these things and for what,” Chandrasekhar told reporters
Church alleges false charges
Members of the Christian community have strongly condemned the arrests, calling it part of a growing trend of harassment and false accusations by right wing groups. "Priests have been arrested on fabricated charges. This is yet another example," said a priest.
Sister Asha Paul, a nun from the Congregation of the Holy Family in Delhi, alleged that no church representatives were allowed to meet the detained nuns. "We have reason to believe that the young women were coerced into changing their statements. They were reportedly forced to claim that they were being taken against their will," she said.
"We have all the evidence of parental consent forms, identification, and documentation that proves no force or conversion was involved," Sister Asha Paul added.
