Chhattisgarh nuns arrest case: Women’s commission demands FIR against right-wing workers for ‘harassment’
2 nuns from Kerala were arrested on July 25 after Bajrang Dal workers accused them of trafficking and converting 3 women. The arrest caused a furore and the nuns were given bail on August 2.
3 min readRaipurUpdated: Oct 10, 2025 07:27 AM IST
Preethi Mary and Vandana Francis, two nuns in their 50s, were arrested on July 25 after local right-wing workers accused them of forced religious conversion and human trafficking. (Photo: X/@cpimspeak)
The Chhattisgarh State Women’s Commission on Thursday wrote a letter to Director General of Police (DGP) Arun Dev Gautam, asking him to register an FIR against the right-wing activists who allegedly threatened, sexually harassed and abused three women from Narayanpur district, as well as two nuns, inside a Government Railway Police (GRP) station in Durg on July 25.
Bajrang Dal workers had accused the nuns of human trafficking and forcibly converting the three women, even though they said the nuns were just helping them get a job. Police then filed an FIR and arrested the nuns, who spent several days in jail until they were granted bail on August 2.
On Thursday, the chairperson of the women’s commission, Kiranmayee Nayak, told The Indian Express, “We took three hearings in the matter, but we have not received an appropriate response from government officials. We had asked them to furnish CCTV camera footage from the Durg Railway Police station, which shows the Bajrang Dal workers harassing the women inside the police station. On Thursday, we wrote a letter to the DGP, asking for an FIR to be registered against the right-wing workers named by the three women in their individual complaints to us.”
Nayak said that the police do not take action in 15 days, “then I will take this matter to the National Human Rights Commission, where we will ask the police to pay compensation to the women for failing to act on the issue.”
The three women have expressed their satisfaction at the action taken by the State Women’s Commission. They also said that the incident led to them losing the job opportunity, which the nuns were helping them with and that this was causing them financial difficulties.
The arrest of the nuns on July 25 had caused a major uproar, especially in Kerala, where the nuns were from. Christian groups, the Congress and Kerala’s ruling Left alliance strongly condemned the arrest.
Multiple videos of the scenes from inside the GRP station at Durg railway station had gone viral on social media.
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After the incident, the three women were sent to a shelter, and later, they were allowed to return home to Narayanpur. The women then approached the Narayanpur police with a complaint against the right-wing workers, but they were asked to go to Durg district as the crime occurred there.
The women subsequently approached the State Women’s Commission in August.
Jayprakash S Naidu is a Principal Correspondent for The Indian Express, currently serving as the state correspondent for Chhattisgarh. With an extensive career in frontline journalism, he reports on the political, security, and humanitarian landscape of Central India.
Expertise and Experience
Specialized Conflict Reporting: Jayprakash is a leading voice on the Maoist/Naxalite conflict in the Bastar region. His reporting provides a critical, ground-level view of:
Internal Security: Tracking high-stakes encounters, surrender programs for senior Maoist leaders, and the establishment of security camps in formerly inaccessible "heartland" villages.
Tribal Rights & Displacement: Investigative reporting on the identity and land struggles of thousands of displaced tribals fleeing conflict zones for neighboring states.
Governance & Bureaucratic Analysis: He consistently monitors the evolution of Chhattisgarh as it marks 25 years of statehood, covering:
Electoral Politics: Analyzing the shift in power between the BJP and Congress and the impact of regional tribal movements.
Public Policy: Reporting on landmark infrastructure projects (e.g., mobile connectivity in remote zones) and judicial interventions, such as High Court rulings on civil and family law.
Diverse Investigative Background: Prior to his current focus on Chhattisgarh, Jayprakash held reported from Maharashtra, where he specialized in:
Crisis & Disaster Management: Notable for his extensive coverage of the Cyclone Tauktae barge tragedy (P-305) and the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on frontline personnel.
Legal & Human Rights: Investigative pieces for platforms like Article-14, focusing on police accountability and custodial deaths across India.
Environmental & Social Justice: Authoritative reporting on the Hasdeo Aranya forest protests and the approval of major tiger reserves, highlighting the tension between industrial mining and environmental preservation. ... Read More
