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

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."

ALSO READ: BJP Factional Rift Surfaces As Kerala, Chhattisgarh Units Spar Over Nuns' Arrest

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