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Magisterial probe ordered into rape of nuns

The Madhya Pradesh government has instituted a magisterial inquiry into the alleged rape of nuns at Bhandariya village, in the border district of Jhabua on the night of September 22 and 23.

State Home Minister Harvansh Singh, who returned to Bhopal after visiting the Christian missionary home at the village, told reporters that a massive search operation had been launched to arrest the culprits. Moreover, the police from the neighbouring state of Gujarat had also been alerted in view of the possibility of the accused escaping to that state.

Announcing a reward of Rs 50,000 to anyone giving information which could lead to the arrest of culprits, Singh said a village to village search was being carried out to arrest the accused.

In their FIR, two nuns alleged that they were raped, while two others maintained that they managed to escape, said Singh.

The home minister said the Christian missionaries were running a dispensary and a nursery school at the ashram at Bhandariya village, under Kalyanpura police station 45 km from the district headquarters, for the last five to six years.

About 20 miscreants reached the ashram at around 2 am on September 23 and knocked at the door seeking medical help for a child. As a senior nun refused to open the door, saying they should either bring a woman or a letter from the local priest, some miscreants broke open the main door of the ashram with crowbar and other instruments.

Singh said the miscreants asked the nuns, who were locked inside a room, where the money was being kept, in lieu of their safety.

As per the statement of the victims, the miscreants after taking the money, led the nuns to the nearby bushes in the premises and raped two of them. However, two others managed to escape.

The ashram is situated in an isolated place and the nearest locality is three kilometres away. The priest, who was staying about one kilometre away, had gone to Indore for some work. He said the watchmen, who were supposed to be at the ashram, were at the residence of the priest.

The home minister said he had conveyed his anguish to the bishop and other religious leaders on the manner the young nuns were allowed to stay. Such an incident would not have happened if the watchmen and their family members were allowed to stay in ashram premises, Singh said.

Meanwhile, all local missionaries educational institutions today in Jhabua remained closed in protest against the alleged rape of the nuns.

Local Christian organisations have given a call for a Jhabua bandh tomorrow also.

They took out a procession to Jhabua district headquarters and handed over a memorandum to district collector Waseem Akhter, demanding stern punitive action against and immediate arrest of the culprits to restore the confidence of the local populace.

A report from Indore said a delegation of students and teachers of two local missionary schools met divisional commissioner Iqbal Ahmed and demanded strict action against the culprits and also to ensure non-recurrence of such ugly incidents.

UNI

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