Railway police in Chhattisgarh’s Durg Railway Station arrested two nuns and a man on charges of alleged human trafficking and forced religious conversion involving three young women from Narayanpur district.
The accused, Sukhman Mandavi, a local resident, and two nuns, Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis, originally from Agra, were accompanying three women aged 18 to 19, reportedly taking them to Agra.
Police sources revealed the women were lured with promises of good employment opportunities offering monthly salaries between Rs8,000 and RS10,000. However, upon arrival in Durg, the women claimed they were told they were being taken to Agra, contrary to initial assurances of local jobs.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) conducted the arrest following a tip-off, reportedly from members of the Bajrang Dal, who also staged protests demanding strict action against the accused for trafficking and forced conversion.
In response, Member of Parliament and public accounts committee chairperson K. C. Venugopal condemned the incident, stating the women traveled with parental consent for employment and accused Bajrang Dal of falsely detaining the nuns. Venugopal decried this as an attack on minority rights amid rising communal tensions in the region.
The investigation remains ongoing as authorities examine the circumstances surrounding the case.
