Guwahati, July 27: The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has strongly condemned the arrest and alleged manhandling of two Catholic nuns at Durg Railway Station in Chhattisgarh, describing the incident as a targeted attack on religious women and a direct assault on India’s constitutional values.
On July 25, Sister Preeti Mary and Sister Vandana Francis of the Green Garden Sisters were detained by Government Railway Police (GRP) while accompanying three young women and one adult tribal male from Narayanpur, Diocese of Jagdalpur. The group was reportedly on its way to Agra, where the young women had secured employment at a Catholic-run hospital.
The girls, aged between 19 and 22, were travelling with full knowledge and written consent of their parents. However, the situation escalated after a Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) stopped them for not possessing platform tickets. Upon being questioned, the girls clearly stated they were voluntarily travelling with the nuns for work.
Despite this clarification, the TTE reportedly alerted local members of the Bajrang Dal, who soon arrived at the station and began accusing the nuns of attempted religious conversion. Even though the girls identified themselves as Christians, the group was forcibly removed from the train and taken to the police station for questioning. The three women are now under the custody of the Women’s Welfare Committee in Durg.
In a statement issued on Sunday, CBCI spokesperson Fr. Robinson Rodrigues said the arrest, carried out despite valid documentation and the girls’ adult status, was unjustified. He further alleged that there were reports of physical assault on the women involved.
“This is not an isolated incident. Religious women are being repeatedly harassed, falsely accused, and publicly humiliated through orchestrated actions that appear to be driven by hatred,” Fr. Robinson said. “It is alarming that Christian religious women are being monitored, confronted at railway stations, and subjected to mob intimidation by fringe elements.”
The CBCI called such actions a “blatant violation of constitutional rights” and warned that growing intolerance poses serious risks to communal harmony. “These acts threaten not just the safety of women, but also the foundational principles of democracy and religious freedom in India,” the statement said.
Demanding immediate intervention from both state and central authorities, the CBCI urged the government to ensure the protection of religious women and minorities, and to take firm action against those inciting communal tensions.
“The Catholic Church will raise this issue across all relevant platforms, nationally and internationally,” the CBCI stated. “We will not stand silent in the face of intimidation and injustice. The state must uphold the law and protect the dignity of all its citizens—irrespective of faith.”
