Chhattisgarh nuns' arrest case: Women's panel asks DGP to register FIR on victims' complaints

Raipur, Oct 9 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh State Women Commission on Thursday wrote to Director General of Police Arun Deo Gautam to lodge separate FIRs based on the complaints of three women from Narayanpur who had alleged they were assaulted and molested by Bajrang Dal workers at Durg railway station in July this year, officials said.

The three women were victims in the alleged human trafficking and forced religious conversion case in which two nuns from Kerala and a tribal man were arrested, they added.

"When police did not lodge FIR on their complaints, the three women had approached us alleging three Bajrang Dal workers at Durg railway station had physically assaulted, verbally abused, and molested them, and also used caste-based slurs," Chhattisgarh State Women Commission chairperson Kiranmayee Nayak said.

"Although three hearings have been held so far in the matter, the respondents have not appeared before the Commission despite being served notices. Even the Durg Superintendent of Police has shown continued negligence in ensuring their presence before the Commission," Nayak said in a statement.

While the Durg SP claimed the GRP police station falls under the jurisdiction of the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), the DRM's office said it comes under state police control, she added.

"When the Commission requested CCTV footage from Durg railway station, only footage from a single gate was provided on a pen drive, raising suspicion that the DRM was aiding in evidence suppression. The Commission has sent a letter to the DGP, directing that separate FIRs be registered for all three complainants within 15 days, and a report be submitted to the Commission within the same period," she said.

If the DGP fails to ensure FIR registration and report submission within the stipulated time, the Commission will approach the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to seek compensation for the victims from the police administration, Nayak said.

Two Catholic nuns, Nuns Preethi Mary (55) and Vandana Francis (53), both from Kerala, along with a tribal man, Sukhman Mandavi, were arrested by railway police at Durg railway station on July 25 after a local Bajrang Dal functionary accused them of forcibly converting these three women from the tribal-dominated Narayanpur district and trafficking them.

The arrest of the nuns sparked off a political slugfest with the Congress and CPI(M) criticising the police action and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai accusing them of politicising the issue.

Later, one of the women had claimed she was coerced and assaulted by Bajrang Dal activists to give a false statement, a charge denied by the right-wing outfit.

The three women- Sukhmati Mandavi, Lalita Usendi and Kamleshwari Pradhan, all aged between 19 to 21 years and residents of Narayanpur district, in their complaints to the Commission, alleged that when they were at Durg railway station on July 25 to head for Agra in Uttar Pradesh for jobs, Jyoti Sharma, Ravi Nigam, Ratan Yadav along with some anti-social elements intercepted them and took them to Durg GRP station, their lawyer Phool Singh Kachalam had said.

The three women had claimed Sharma, Nigam and Yadav assaulted and molested them and also subjected them to caste-based abuse.

Jyoti Sharma, who identifies herself as a Bajrang Dal activist, had denied the allegations.

The two nuns and another person were released from Durg jail on August 2 after a special court in the state's Bilaspur district granted them bail. PTI TKP BNM