One of the three tribal women at the centre of trafficking allegations against two Kerala Catholic nuns has publicly alleged that she was coerced into giving false testimony, as the sisters remain in judicial custody after courts refused to hear their bail applications.
Kamleshwari Pradhan, 21, told reporters on Thursday (31 July) that Bajrang Dal members forced her to make statements against Sisters Preethi Mary and Vandana Francis, who were arrested on 25 July at Durg Railway Station in Chhattisgarh alongside local resident Sukhman Mandavi.
“They assaulted us and said that if we did not say what they wanted us to, then they would put my brother and the sisters in jail,” Pradhan told media from her home district of Narayanpur. She specifically named Jyoti Sharma, a woman associated with the Durga Vahini Matrushakti, as her assailant, alleging Sharma “hit me twice on the face” and threatened to jail her siblings if she didn’t comply with their demands.
Pradhan maintained the nuns were innocent and claimed police failed to record her actual statements, instead basing their FIR on statements given by Bajrang Dal members rather than the alleged victims themselves.
“When I tried to speak, they asked me to stay silent and questioned if I wanted to go home,” she added, denying the trafficking and conversion allegations that form the basis of the case.
Pradhan, a tribal woman who earns Rs 250 daily as a labourer, said she had travelled to Durg station voluntarily with parental consent, seeking employment as a cook for the nuns and to care for patients at an Agra hospital for Rs 10,000 monthly plus accommodation.
“I used to cycle for nine kilometres every day for work. I have studied up to class 10,” she told the media. “Mandavi offered me a job as a cook for the nuns and to look after patients. They promised Rs 10,000 apart from food, clothes and shelter. I was happy.”
She described meeting the nuns for the first time at the station, saying: “When we were being assaulted, one of the nuns said, ‘do not worry, I am here with you.’ She told the person beating us, ‘hit us, but not them’.”
Media outlets reported a viral video that has emerged showing Jyoti Sharma, who describes herself as a “Hindutvawadi” from Durga Vahini Matrushakti, threatening the nuns inside the police station. In the footage, Sharma is heard saying: “If you don’t want to speak, I will smash your face, I’m warning you,” while accusing them of running a conversion racket based on finding “a Bible, a photo, a passbook, an ATM card, and a diary with pastors’ numbers” in their possession.
When contacted by media personnel, Sharma denied physically assaulting anyone, stating: “I did not touch any one of them. When I reached, they were already inside the police station. Will the police allow me to touch them?” However, she justified her actions to another news outlet, saying: “I don’t hit everyone. I just hit people who convert Hindu girls to Christianity.”
The nuns face charges under Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for human trafficking and Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act following a complaint by Bajrang Dal member Ravi Nigam, who alleged the trio were trafficking three tribal women to Agra for forced conversion. If convicted, the charges carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison.
Additional Sessions Judge Anish Dubey refused to hear the bail applications on 30 July, citing jurisdictional issues as human trafficking charges fall under the National Investigation Agency Act 2008. The court directed the applicants to approach the NIA court in Bilaspur, leaving the nuns in custody until 8 August.
The case has triggered unprecedented political unity in Kerala, with both ruling and opposition parties condemning the arrests. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described the action as “a deliberate act of harassment based on a false complaint,” while Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi led parliamentary protests demanding the nuns’ immediate release.
Remarkably, Kerala’s BJP unit has distanced itself from the arrests, with state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar characterising the situation as a “profound misunderstanding.” He insisted the nuns were “not human traffickers or proselytisers” and attributed the arrests to procedural lapses in not registering under Chhattisgarh’s employment placement rules.
However, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has defended the action, posting on social media that the case involved “human trafficking under the guise of conversion by luring.” His public pronouncement drew criticism from legal experts who questioned prejudging an ongoing investigation.
CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, who visited the imprisoned nuns on 30 July, condemned the case as “manufactured” and reported concerning jail conditions. Both nuns, who are in their mid-fifties and suffer from serious medical conditions including chronic arthritis, were forced to sleep on cold floors and were running temperatures during her visit.
“Are there separate rules for adivasi adult women who want to leave voluntarily to look for employment elsewhere? Do they need a passport from Bajrang Dal to travel?” Karat questioned, alleging discrimination against tribal women seeking employment.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has strongly condemned the arrests, with Cardinal Baselios Cleemis leading a silent protest march to Kerala’s Raj Bhavan. Church leaders emphasised that Christians constitute less than 2.5% of India’s population, questioning allegations of widespread forced conversions.
“When such incidents happen, those in power should display the will power to address it immediately. That is when minority communities like ours feel safe in the country,” Cardinal Cleemis stated during the protest.
The Church of South India Synod described the arrests as part of “a disturbing trend of targeting Christian religious personnel under the guise of law and order,” while Kerala MPs staged protests in Parliament with Priyanka Gandhi describing the incident as “mob justice and communal targeting.”
“Nuns are the latest in the series of serious violence this year. This is not the first time nuns have been arrested or harassed during train travel,” Dr. John Dayal, spokesperson of the All India Catholic Union, told Christian Today. “Serious crimes against other Christian groups include attempted murder and attempted lynching, acts of violence against prayer meetings, attacks on churches and institutions, social boycotts, refusal to burials, and particularly in UP, large scale arrests of pastors.”
Union Minister George Kurian added controversy by suggesting the bail application itself was erroneous, drawing criticism for the BJP’s contradictory stance between its Kerala and national positions.
The sisters, both in their mid-fifties and belonging to the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate order, were reportedly accompanying the women to Agra for nursing training and employment at Fatima Hospital. The bail application stated the women were already Christians and travelled voluntarily due to poverty and lack of employment opportunities.
“While the outpouring of support for the nuns is heartening, there’s a troubling silence about Sukhman Mandavi,” Dayal observed. “Why are Church bodies and Christian groups ignoring the young tribal man’s plight? Even petition campaigns omit his name. Have we assumed his guilt, or simply abandoned our responsibility to fight for a fellow believer? Who will stand for him if we don’t?”
