Indian Christians protest against the rising violence against their co-religionists in the central state of Chhattisgarh, in New Delhi on Jan. 8. (Photo: Bijay Kumar Minj)
A Catholic nun and four others, including family members, jailed for allegedly hurting religious feelings by holding a thanksgiving Mass at their home in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have been released on bail.
Sister Vibha Kerketta, a newly professed member of Daughters of St Anne (DSA) was arrested by police on June 6 night along with her mother, aunt, uncle, and a driver, from her home in Balachapper village, Jashpur diocese.
Kerketta and her family were also charged with promoting disharmony among different religions after local hardline Hindu groups objected to a thanksgiving Mass being held at their home on the occasion of the nun’s first visit after becoming a professed nun in December last.
“We are happy the nun and others were released after a local court granted them bail on June 13,” said Father Nirmal Minj, a Jesuit priest serving in her home parish, Shanti Bhavan Church.
All the arrested were released after furnishing a surety to the tune of 15,000 rupees ($187. 5) each, he told UCA News on June 14.
“We brought them straight from jail to the church, where some 50 parishioners had gathered to welcome them. The nun and others are happy, and not at all scared by the fake case,” Minj said.
The priest and parishioners have vowed to support Kerketta and her family.
Meanwhile, the Isai Adivasi Mahasabha (Indigenous Christian Congress) lodged a complaint with the police on June 13 demanding action against those who leveled the false charges and got them arrested.
Some 5,000 Christians aligned with the organization held a day-long protest on June 14 at the district headquarters to press for legal action against the hardline Hindu activists who they alleged forcibly entered into the home, slapped the nun’s mother, and ransacked their house, and even desecrated the Bible.
The protestors also sought disciplinary action against police officials who acted against the nun and her family in total disregard to the law. No lady police officer was present while arresting the women, which is mandatory under the law, they alleged.
Chhattisgarh state ruled by the Congress, which swears by secular credentials, has seen a sharp rise in targeted violence against Christians in the past several months.
Sectarian violence has displaced more than 1,000 indigenous Christians in the state’s Maoist-infested Bastar region since August 2022.
Christian leaders speaking to UCA News on the condition of not revealing their names alleged that their attackers looted their houses, farm animals, and crops after forcing them to flee.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had assured action against those behind the violence, but Church leaders said the situation of Christians remains grim.
Hardline Hindu groups accuse Christians of converting people by illegal means but Christian leaders deny the charge.
“We don’t convert anyone forcefully or through any other illegal means,” they said.
Christians make up less than 2 percent of Chhattisgarh’s 30 million people.
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