Dalit Christian Digest

New Delhi: After spending 10 days in prison, the two Catholic nuns who were arrested from the Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh were released on bail on Saturday, August 2. The legal battle for their acquittal is still on.

The nuns — Preethy Mary (55) and Vandana Francis (53) — were granted bail on a surety of Rs 50,000. As per the bail conditions, they are required to surrender their passports and cannot leave the country until the investigation into the matter is concluded. The bail order mandated that the accused not speak with the media.

The allegations of human trafficking and forced religious conversion still hold and the nuns’ lawyers are planning to move the Chhattisgarh high court to get the first information report (FIR) in the case quashed.

The arrest of the nuns spawned widespread protests across the country, from Kerala to Hyderabad to New Delhi. Members of Parliament from the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Left Democratic Front (LDF) staged separate protests outside Parliament in the national capital.

Hundreds of Christians from Hyderabad held a peace rally in Secunderabad on August 1, calling for justice and the immediate release of nuns. The rally, organised by the Catholic Association of Hyderabad, began at the St. Francis School Gate in Secunderabad and concluded at the Mother Teresa Statue. General secretary of the National Dalit Christian Watch (NDCW), Sister Manju Devarapalli, took part in the protest, condemning the arrest and increasing number of attacks against the Christian community in the country under the watch of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

In a statement on July 27, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) “strongly condemned” the arrest of nuns. Expressing deep concern and outrage, the CBCI highlighted that “this incident is part of a disturbing pattern of harassment, false accusations, and fabricated cases targeting Religious Women in recent months”.

The two nuns and another person, Sukhman Mandavi, were arrested on July 25 by the Government Railway Police (GRP) from Durg railway station following a complaint by workers of a right-wing outfit. The complaint alleged that they forcibly converted three women from Narayanpur and were attempting to traffic them. Sister Preethy Mary and Sister Vandana Francis belong to the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate congregation.

“The persecution of the nuns by imprisoning them is a shame for the country,” said John Brittas, a Catholic member in the upper house of the Indian Parliament, during the parliamentary debate on July 30.

‘Systemic targeting of Christians’ across India   

The Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) has documented 334 incidents of systematic targeting against Christian communities across India between January and July 2025. “These verified cases represent a sustained pattern of violations affecting Christians in 22 states and union territories, with incidents occurring consistently every month,” a statement from EFI said.

It went on to add, “The incidents reveal a coordinated pattern of targeting that employs both legal mechanisms and social pressure to suppress Christian religious expression. ”

Writing in Catholic Connect, George Kallivayalil flags the blatant exclusion of Christians in the National Minority Commission by the BJP government. “An entire term has passed, denying Christians their rightful representation. Now, there is no justification for extending the appointment of the new Commission. The Minority Commission has effectively become defunct—there is no chairman or members,” he pointed out.

“The ongoing and past attacks on minorities in Manipur, Kandhamal, and the Hindi-speaking states—including condemnable and brutal murders, rapes, and other atrocities—could not continue without the direct and indirect support of BJP governments,” Kallivayalil further underlined.