Indian court protects conversion-accused nun from arrest
The nun has been charged with violating the provisions of the anti-conversion law in Chhattisgarh state
Updated: April 28, 2025 11:20 AM GMT
A state court in central Indian Chhattisgarh state has issued a pre-arrest bail to a Catholic nun after police began investigating a complaint that the nun attempted to convert a Hindu student at her nursing college.
The move of the Bilaspur High Court, the highest court in the state, saves Sister Bincy Joseph from immediate arrest.
The nun is the principal of Holy Cross Nursing College, located in Kunkuri town in the predominantly tribal Jashpur district.
“We are relieved and happy,” said Abhinandan Xalxo, president of the Jashpur Catholic Sabha (church), who has been assisting the nun in the case.
Xalxo told UCA News on April 25 that the court granted anticipatory bail to Joseph on April 24.
Police are investigating an April 6 complaint of a student that the nun “attempted to forcibly convert” her. The complaint was sent to the district collector, the top civil official in a district, and the Superintendent of Police, the district’s top police official.
The student also told the media that the nun prevented her from attending her final nursing exam and restricted her access to the campus for resisting attempts to convert her.
But the nun maintains that the student’s “allegations are a calculated attempt to defame the institution and cover up her own academic shortcomings.”
The nun has been charged with violating the provisions of the state’s anti-conversion law and other non-bailable clauses of India‘s criminal code.
She petitioned the district court, which on April 11 turned down her pre-arrest bail application, forcing her to approach the top court for relief.
The complainant, studying general nursing and midwifery, completed a three-year course this year but skipped the practical sessions, which are mandatory to take the final exam as per the rules framed by the state’s nursing council.
The nun said the student “submitted a declaration” in January, promising to complete pending assignments, “but failed to do so despite reminders.” Her parents were also informed of her lapses, the nun said.
The complaint prompted local Hindu groups, who continue a campaign against missionaries and conversion, to protest, demanding action against the nun and cancellation of the nursing colleges’ government approval.
Local Christian community, however, backed the nun and refuted the allegations as “false and baseless.”
Christian leaders accused the state government, run by pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of discriminating against them for their faith in Jesus and not protecting their constitutional rights.
Christians, they said, witnessed violence and other forms of discrimination such as social boycotts, assaults, and various threats from Hindus who want them to abandon their faith in Christ and return to the Hindu religious fold.
The state recorded 165 incidents of violence against Christians in 2024, which were second only to Uttar Pradesh, which topped with 209 incidents, according to data gathered by United Christian Forum (UCF), a New Delhi-based ecumenical body keeping track of persecution against Christians in India.
Christians make up less than 2 percent of Chhattisgarh’s 30 million people.
