Kerala Nuns Granted Bail After 9 Days In Chhattisgarh 'Forced Conversion' Case

An NIA court in Bilaspur granted bail to two Catholic nuns and a tribal man from Kerala, arrested in Durg, Chhattisgarh, on forced conversion and human trafficking charges.

The ruling has come amidst protests by several Christian bodies and political parties against the arrest of the nuns.

Source : PTI

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur on Saturday granted bail to three individuals, including two Catholic nuns from Kerala, arrested on charges of forced religious conversion and human trafficking. The three persons were arrested on July 25 in Durg, Chhattisgarh.

Defence lawyer Amrito Das told PTI, "The court has granted conditional bail to the trio." The nuns were granted bail on the condition that they should surrender their passport and a bond of Rs 50,000 each should be furnished, reported On Manorama.

The accused—Sisters Vandana Francis and Preeti, along with a tribal man—had been in custody for nine days. Their initial bail plea was rejected by a sessions court, which ruled that the matter fell under the NIA court's jurisdiction due to the nature of the allegations.

Following the NIA court’s decision, VD Satheesan, Leader of the Opposition in Kerala and senior Congress MLA, welcomed the ruling. “ "We are happy to hear that they got bail. The sad thing is that they were imprisoned for the last 9 days. They have not committed any offence, but they were imprisoned,” he said.

He added, "This has been happening in the BJP-ruled states for so many years. There are 834 incidents that have happened in the last 365 days."

Catholic Bishops Conference Of India (CBCI) President and Thrissur Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath told ANI, "I thank God and everyone for this good news... The two sisters had come to work in a hospital with the permission of their parents... A mob of extremists attacked them... and they were arrested under totally false accusations... Our request is that the case be quashed at the earliest, because the delay might lead to more false accusations... There should be an Act from the government to protect against such incidents... Many fringe groups have attacked Christianity in recent times."