NEW DELHI: As Chhattisgarh sessions court on Wednesday disposed of the bail application of two Kerala nuns arrested in charges of ‘alleged forced conversion, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he will meet Parliamentarians from Kerala on Thursday and discuss the issue in detail.
Shah’s assurance came after MPs from Kerala sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah demanding an early release of the nuns, who were arrested on charges of ‘forced conversion and human trafficking’ at the Durg railway station last week.
On Wednesday, UDF MPs NK Premachandran, Benny Behanan and Francis George met Shah and urged the immediate intervention of the Central government to secure the release of the nuns. Speaking to this newspaper, the MPs said that Shah assured them that the Centre will extend all possible help to secure the bail of the two catholic nuns.
The three MPs were part of the delegation, which visited the nuns in Durg jail. The arrest has snowballed into a major political firestorm with several MPs raising the issue in Parliament as well. Disposing of the bail, the sessions court in Durg said that it does nothave the jurisdiction to hear cases under human trafficking and the nuns may have to go to an NIA court for further legal action.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, MPs K C Venugopal and K. Suresh termed the incident as ‘deeply disturbing and shocking’
Demanding the immediate release of the nuns, Venugopal said that the nuns, Preethi Mary and Vandana Francis, Venugopal alleged that the nuns were ‘falsely accused” of conversion and trafficking. “These two nuns have been in jail for the last five days without any reason. What cruelty is this? If the government does not act now, the situation will spiral out of control,” he said. Earlier, Kerala MPs including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took out a protest march outside Parliament seeking the release of the nuns.