When Preethi Mary was a little girl, she would regularly meet with nuns from her parish at Elavoor in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. It didn’t take her much time to decide that she wanted to be a nun when she grew up. Hailing from a family of seven siblings, Preethi, the eldest, decided to wear the habit when she was in her early 20s.
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What kept her tied to the Church was her philanthropic leanings, her family members said. “Whenever she came home, she would pack food, clothes and medicines for the poor in Chhattisgarh,” M Baiju, her younger brother, told The Indian Express. A trained nurse, Preethi Mary found prayer and healing equally important, he said. “She believes in helping those who are ailing from diseases. She used to constantly tell us about the plight of the poor in North Indian cities.”
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. On Saturday, more than a week later, they were granted bail by an NIA court.
The nuns belong to the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) congregation, headquartered at Cherthala in Kerala’s Alappuzha district.
The head of ASMI, Mother Superior Isabel Francis, told The Indian Express, “Our mission started as an intervention to heal leprosy, about 75 years ago. We then branched out into general medicine and education — we run schools for the mentally challenged and health clinics in Chhattisgarh. Never have we ever faced such a charge (of forceful religious conversion) in our history.”
The sisters at the convent in Chhattisgarh are worried about their colleagues, she said. “Both Sister Vandana and Sister Preethi have lived and worked for the Church for long. They have sacrificed about 30 years of their lives for the poor,” Isabel Francis said. “Some of our sisters are now learning the law so that we can battle such trumped up charges.”
Sister Vandana’s family in Kannur district’s Udayagiri village were worried about her health. Her brother Jims, a man of few words, said, “She is an elderly woman and needs medical attention. We are worried for her.” The 56-year-old nun used to work in a pharmacy in Chhattisgarh.
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Bothe Baiju and Jims, the brothers of the nuns, have been camping in Chhattisgarh since their arrest. Baiju said, “They don’t get to know what’s going on outside and are worried. When I meet them, I try to tell them how the Church is standing by them.” On Saturday, the two women were granted bail.
Christian missions across the country had been holding protests demanding their release. In Kerala, almost every Catholic mission had been up in arms against the BJP government in Chhattisgarh over the nuns’ incarceration.
Vandana Francis had apparently told those who went to visit her that she was well. “She enquired about the nuns in her convent. They are her family,” Jims said.
Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference (KCBC) leaders told The Indian Express that nuns have been the face of peaceful protests across the country against anti-conversion laws in different states. “We are with them. We know that they have not done anything wrong,” said Father Thomas Tharayil, general secretary of KCBC.
