KOTTAYAM: Is there no escape from social stigma attached to the dispensation from nunhood? Well, if the recent incident is any indication, the answer is ‘No’. Even after getting a dispensation from nunhood from the Church following her request months ago, Sr Mary Sebastian, 45, attached to the Congregation of Mother Carmel, cannot leave the Pala Cherpunkal Nazareth Bhavan Convent, as she has nowhere to go.
Her family, comprising elderly and siblings, are scared to accept her. As a social work teacher in Kozhuvanal St John Nepumcian Higher Secondary School, Sr Mary has been giving her salary to the convent and has no savings. She has alleged harassment on the part of the convent, which has charged her with robbery and mental torture of children. “I was fed up with the ill-treatment and harassment at the convent. I have been harassed for years for pointing fingers at the embezzlement of funds. I cannot bear this torture anymore,” she says.