Nuns out on bail; ‘police excess’ & Bajrang Dal’s role in Chhattisgarh case under scanner

An NIA court on August 2 granted bail to the two Catholic nuns from Kerala, Vandana Francis and Preethi Mary, and a tribal man named Sukhman Mandavi arrested in Chhattisgarh on charges of religious conversion and human trafficking.

The nuns, members of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI), and Mandavi, a resident of Narayanpur district in Chhattisgarh, had been accused of converting and trafficking three tribal women aged between 19 and 22. They were arrested on July 25. The charges mentioned in the FIR registered against them include unlawful religious conversions under Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act, 1968, and human trafficking under Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

According to a reports, Sukhman and the three women — his sister Sukhmati Mandavi, Lalita Usendi and Kamaleswari Pradhan — reached Durg railway station on July 25, where the two nuns were to meet them. When a platform ticket examiner was asking for their tickets, the nuns arrived and told the ticket examiner that they had the tickets. Around this time, members of the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), arrived at the location in large numbers, reportedly after receiving a call from the ticket checker. Ultimately, the nuns, the man and the three women were detained by the railway police, and an FIR was filed, allegedly on the insistence of the Bajrang Dal workers. The three women were later moved to a government-run shelter, while Sisters Francis and Mary, and Sukhman Mandavi were arrested. While rejecting the trio’s bail plea on July 30, a sessions court had transferred the hearing of the case to a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Bilaspur.

It should be noted that the initial FIR (copy attached below) did not include charges of religious conversion, and only mentioned Section 143. It is to be noted that multiple sources, including the families of the three tribal women, have confirmed that they were Christians, so there was no question of conversion.

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Outrage after the Arrests

The arrest of the two Malayali nuns triggered outrage from political and religious leaders from Kerala even as their families questioned the basis of the police action. The family members of the three tribal women not only confirmed that they were Christians, but also rejected all the allegations against the nuns.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the incident and wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking immediate intervention. At the same time, Congress MPs sought a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the rising incidents of attacks against Christian minorities. On July 30, Congress leader and Member of Parliament K C Venugopal said during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha that “the Centre must intervene and ensure the release of two nuns”. Further, a CPI(M) delegation led by senior party leader Brinda Karat met the nuns in prison on July 30.

While Chhattisgarh chief minister and BJP leader Vishnu Deo Sai backed the police action against the nuns, Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on July 29 that the nuns “were not involved in trafficking or conversion activities.” Chandrasekhar added that BJP Kerala general secretary Anoop Antony had himself gone to Chhattisgarh, and that BJP was extending all possible help.

Naked violation of Constitutional Rights: Kerala Priest

Alt News reached out to Father Tom Olikkarott, priest and spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala. He told us that both Sister Vandana Francis and Sister Preethi Mary were part of the same congregation.

“They have dedicated their lives to treating leprosy patients. They were engaged in charitable and philanthropic work. They were helping build the nation,” Father Olikkarott told Alt News. “The girls were travelling with a man who was the elder brother of one of the girls. Sisters Francis and Mary had appointed them (the three women) to work at an organisation in Agra, and that is where they were going. A few of their (the three women’s) neighbours were already working there, and that is how they got in touch with the nuns,” he added.

Olikkarott also confirmed to Alt News that the three women belonged to the Christian community. “The families have been Christians for generations. How can there be a question of conversion?” he asked.

“The Bajrang Dal members arrived at the station, harassed them and started asking for details. Who are they to enquire anything? They (the nuns) have the right to travel, right? This is a complete violation of human rights and a naked violation of minority and constitutional rights,” he added.

‘Deliberate Delay in Legal Procedure’

Speaking to Alt News a day before the nuns were released on conditional bail, Jimson Mathew, younger brother of Sister Vandana Francis, said, “We will go ahead legally. We have full faith in the justice system. But they are using legal loopholes to delay the process as a whole. But we haven’t done anything wrong, and we believe that justice will prevail.”

Mathew was in Chhattisgarh to deal with the legal proceedings when he spoke to Alt News. “We were able to meet my sister. The jailer was cooperative,” he added.

Speaking about the charges levelled against his sister, he told Alt News, “The human trafficking accusations are baseless. The three people (the three young women and Sukhman Mandavi) who were with the nuns were going to join work. Their parents had no objection to their joining this job. They even had police clearance to travel and work (likely because the women belonged to a tribal community). These clearance papers were with the Sisters when they were arrested… None of them did anything wrong; their only fault was not having a platform ticket.”

Mathew reiterated that the women were being taken to Agra to work in a convent there. “All three people are adults. The Sisters chose to personally take them over as they were young people from a tribal background. All of them had travel tickets to Agra,” he added.

The Tribal Women were being Taken to Agra Forcibly: Bajrang Dal

A Bajrang Dal member Alt News spoke to, however, had a different version of the events. Saurabh Dewangan, a Bajrang Dal activist from Durg, Chhattisgarh, was present at the rail station when the incident took place.

“The women looked visibly upset and expressed reluctance to travel from Narayanpur to Agra. They said, ‘Let us go,’ but the pastor (referring to Sukhman Mandavi) was forcing them to travel with him and the nuns,” claimed Dewangan. He further alleged that the three were not well-educated, had received nursing training, and were being taken under the pretext of being offered jobs. However, according to him, the women had no clear idea where they were being taken. He also claimed that each of the three women possessed two sets of Aadhaar cards.

Dewangan shared with us a 1.17-minute-long video containing a remark by Sukhmati. She says that she did not want to leave her home and travel as far as to Agra, but her brother (Sukhman Mandavi) insisted that the train tickets had already been booked and could not be cancelled.

We tracked down the full video, which is over 38 minutes long and includes the woman’s statement mentioned above. It was posted on YouTube by the channel VLC News on July 25. This video summarily refutes Dewangan’s claims. The woman, Sukhmati, who identifies herself with her name, tells a reporter in this video that they were headed to Agra to work as cooks at a place run by the nuns. She also says they had been informed about the job in advance and were asked whether they wanted to go. She and the other women agreed to visit and check out the workplace. Sukhmati adds that train tickets were bought and that several other women from her district also joined the same job. The interviewer then asks similar questions to Kamleswari, apparently attempting to imply that the nuns were conspiring to do something beyond what the women had been told. However, she, too, asserts that her parents were aware of her travel plans.

Hours after we traced this video, VLC News made it ‘private’, i.e., inaccessible for viewers. When we contacted a representative of the channel, he said the channel had “received guidelines” to do so, once the matter blew up.

Some parts of the conversation between the women and mediapersons and a Bajrang Dal leader named Jyoti Sharma are still available on the internet.

‘Slapped, Heckled, Forced to Give False Statements By Bajrang Dal Activists’

In one video, police personnel are seen present in the room where the nuns, along with the man and the ‘victims’, are seated. However, the questioning is initially carried out by Jyoti Sharma, a Bajrang Dal leader. She is seen checking the documents carried by the women and the nuns, and speaking to them brashly. Sharma can be heard asking the women: “You are not that young that you just agreed to go with these people. Don’t you know anything about these kinds of people? Don’t you use social media? Don’t you use WhatsApp? Don’t you know what these people do after taking you with them?” A local Bajrang Dal leader told Indian Express that Sharma was not from the same outfit. She is an activist with the Durga Vahini Matrushakti.

This takes place in the presence of Railway Police officials, who appear to wait for Sharma to finish searching their belongings before taking over.

VLC News posted a Short on YouTube on July 25. Here, Sukhmati can be heard saying that they were headed to Agra to work as cooks at a place run by the nuns. She says they had been informed about the job in advance and were asked whether they wanted to go. She and the other women agreed to visit and check out the workplace. Sukhmati also states that several other women from her district also joined the same job.

We found another video by a channel called CG Khabar, where statements of the three women were included. They clearly state that they were coerced into giving false statements and had filed a counter-FIR.

In this report, Lalita Usendi says, “What Jyoti Sharma did to us was wrong. There were around 50 or maybe 100 or 150 people with her who dragged us to the police station. We were scared. They told us that we would get raped and would be made to sleep with men. Our parents were aware of our travel, but still Jyoti Sharma caused us so much trouble. The men who were there with her were touching our waist and dragging us to the police station. We also asked them not to record our video, and she said she was protecting her daughters. She even slapped me so many times, but they did not record that part,” She breaks down while making the statement.

Sukhmati, who reportedly said that she had no idea where she was going, says in this video, “I am happy that the nuns and brother got bail, they are innocent.” Breaking down into tears, she adds, “That day when we were at the Durg station, the Bajrang Dal members came and started physically attacking us.” She reiterated that they were also inappropriately touched once they were taken inside the police station.

The third woman, Kamaleswari, reiterated this. She also claims that Jyoti Sharma allegedly called them “neechi jaati” (lower caste) and “hamari jooti ke samaan” (equal to our shoe’s value). “All three of them, the nuns and the man, were innocent”.

India Today reported on July 30 that the families of the women had come forward to say that they had sent their daughters willingly and denied the charge of forced conversion. India Today quoted the elder sister of one of the women, saying, “Our parents are no longer alive. I sent my sister with the nuns so she could take up a nursing job in Agra. I worked with them earlier in Lucknow. This opportunity would help her become self-reliant.” Further, the report mentioned that a relative confirmed that the family had converted to Christianity five years ago, as the woman in the yellow salwar suit had mentioned, and called the arrest of the nuns and Mandavi “unjust and manipulative”.

The report also quoted Narayanpur SP Robinson Guria, who confirmed that all three families submitted written declarations on July 26 to local police, stating that they had willingly sent their daughters with the nuns for employment. However, despite these statements, a Government Railway Police (GRP) officer told the news outlet that the investigation was ongoing and “corroborative evidence” was still being collected.

Rise in Attacks Against Christians

The Chhattisgarh incident, where all available evidence suggests that the police action against the nuns were entirely uncalled for, comes in the wake of several incidents of attacks on Christian by the Hindutva outfits and BJP leaders cross the country. BJP MLA from Maharashtra Gopichand Padalkar in June announced a bounty reward ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 11 lakh for acts of violence against Christian priests and missionaries involved in “forceful conversions”, in a clear case of inciting violent vigilantism and disregarding the law.

A video report by Caravan, published in May 2025, highlights the persecution and baseless allegations of forceful conversion that the Christian community faced in several parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Additionally, Bajrang Dal leader Jyoti Sharma, who could be seen grilling the nuns in presenec of police, had been found harassing individuals from the Christian community in the past. She calls this a ‘ghar wapsi’ operation, where ‘deflected’ individuals (those who have converted to other religions from Hinduism) are ‘rescued back’ to Hinduism.

In the viral video of a recent incident from Ghaziabad, a Bajrang Dal leader who had stopped a Blinkit delivery person carrying non-veg items, could be heard saying that “Christians were worse than Muslims”, after he found out that the order had been placed by a Christian. In December 2024, schools faced the ire of the same Hindutva outfit for celebrating Christmas. Alt News also documented how hostilities against Christians peaked around Christmas.

Quoting the data on attacks against Christians between 2014 and 2024, compiled by the United Christian Forum, Father Tom Olikkarot said, “When you look at the data from 2014 till now, there have been 4,316 incidents in India where Christian minorities were targeted. It is very pathetic that minorities are facing such grave violence. The government and political parties have to look into this and ensure the security of Christian minorities.”

UPDATE: Late on August 4, after this story was published, the 38.35-miniute video report by the YouTube channel named VLC News mentioned in this story was made public again. Readers can access the video at the moment.

(With inputs from Sharjes Mohammed)