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Catholic nuns Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis from Kerala, and Sukaman Mandavi, were arrested at Durg railway station on July 25 for alleged forced conversion and human trafficking.

BILASPUR: A special court in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur on Saturday granted conditional bail to three individuals including two Catholic nuns from Kerala who were arrested on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion.

Principal District and Sessions Judge (NIA Court) Sirajuddin Qureshi granted bail to Preethi Merry, Vandana Francis (both from Kerala), and Sukaman Mandavi, with conditions that they surrender their passports, furnish a bond of Rs 50,000 each, and provide two sureties.

The three were arrested on July 25 at Durg railway station after a complaint was filed by a local Bajrang Dal functionary. The complainant alleged that the trio had trafficked three girls from Narayanpur and were attempting to forcibly convert them.

“It transpired from the case diary that the FIR was registered primarily based on a mere apprehension and suspicion of committing the offence by the accused persons. The arrest memo of the accused shows there is no previous record of their criminal history and the parents of the three victims (tribal girls) have filed their affidavits stating the accused have not allured or forced their daughters for religious conversion or human trafficking. Besides, the two victim girls in their statement before the police stated they have been followers of Christianity since childhood”, observed the NIA court in its order.

The court also stated that there is no requisition from the investigating agency for the custodial interrogation of the accused persons.

The defence lawyer, B Gopa Kumar after the court order, said that the charges on human trafficking and forced religious conversion are false as there are no ingredients for the two allegations found in the police diary against the accused. All three alleged victims are adults, who were accompanying the nuns willingly and have already been following Christianity, he asserted.

The public prosecutor, during the arguments on Friday, opposed the bail citing the charges against the three accused as serious in nature and the interrogation still remains in a preliminary stage.

Earlier this week, the lower JMFC court and later the Sessions Fast Track Special Court Judge in Durg district denied bail to two nuns citing their applications can be heard in the NIA court.

The case has sparked sharp reactions across religious and rights groups, with legal proceedings now expected to continue under court supervision.