Durg, Jul 29 (PTI) A delegation of leaders of the Congress-led UDF alliance in Kerala on Tuesday visited the Durg central jail in Chhattisgarh and met two Catholic nuns arrested for alleged human trafficking and forced religious conversion.
The delegation later also met Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai who assured them that the matter would be investigated thoroughly.
Nuns Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis along with Sukaman Mandavi were arrested at Durg railway station on July 25 following a complaint by a local Bajrang Dal functionary who accused them of forcibly converting three girls from Narayanpur and trafficking them.
The UDF delegation included Lok Sabha MPs Benny Behanan of the Congress, N K Premachandran of the RSP and K Francis George of Kerala Congress-Joseph and Roji M John, a Congress MLA besides some other Kerala Congress leaders. Saptagiri Ulaka, a Congress MP from Odisha, also accompanied them.
Talking to reporters outside the jail premises, Premchandran claimed that the nuns were innocent.
"We were allotted time to meet the nuns at 12.30 pm, but not allowed (to go in) as a BJP delegation from Kerala also arrived. After the BJP delegation met them, we were allowed to meet. We staged a protest outside the jail," Premchandran said.
The UDF delegation was allowed to go into the jail after 2 pm when former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel intervened, he said.
"The delegation members had an elaborate discussion with the arrested nuns and they told us everything which I am not going to disclose here," Premchandran said.
"They (nuns) are very innocent. The three young ladies (alleged victims) were being taken for jobs and the nuns had come to receive them at the railway station. Then some Bajrang Dal functionaries arrived and assaulted them," he alleged.
The UDF MP alleged that the nuns had undergone severe mental torture at the police and the railway stations, where they had been subjected to mob trial by the Bajrang Dal activists.
"The right-wing activists asked the nuns to keep quiet like owls. In the presence of police personnel, they checked the bags of the nuns and the girls. They even forced the girls to give a statement that Rs 2,000 found in their bag was given to them by the nuns as a cost to traffic them," Premachandran further alleged, quoting the nuns.
Under that pressure, one of the girls could not tell her exact place, which led to all the confusion, the MP added.
Benny Behanan said all the propaganda being unleashed against the nuns by the right-wing activists was baseless and wrong.
"They propagated that the girls had no Aadhaar or identity cards...But the Sisters said that they had all necessary documents with them. The nuns also made it clear that they were taken with the permission of their parents," he claimed.
All three girls have completed 18 years, the MP said, quoting the nuns.
Talking to reporters, senior Congress leader Baghel accused the ruling BJP of targeting minorities to polarise votes of the majority community.
Later in the day, a delegation of Left MPs also reached Chhattisgarh to meet the nuns, but they were not granted permission, citing that the visitors' time was over.
The UDF delegation subsequently met chief minister Sai in Nava Raipur, and discussed the issue, an official statement said.
Sai told them that the matter was being thoroughly investigated by following due legal process. Chhattisgarh is a peace-loving state which values social harmony and respects all religions, he added.
"The law is functioning independently. Our government's priority is that the daughters and citizens of the state live a safe and respectable life," the CM emphasized.
On Monday, Sai had said it was unfortunate that the issue of safety of women was being politicised.
"Three daughters of Narayanpur were promised nursing training, followed by jobs. A person from Narayanpur handed them over to two nuns at Durg station, who were taking them to Agra. An attempt was being made to convert them," Sai had claimed.