(UCAN): Three Catholic teenage girls were reportedly detained by a team from the state’s Commission for Protection of Child Rights during an inspection of a Catholic school hostel in the predominantly tribal district of Jhabua, in Madhya Pradesh, where they were staying, Church sources said on July 21.
The girls are now in the custody of the District Child Welfare Committee Child [CWC] on suspicion of conversion to Christianity. The parents of the girls, who are from Jamburi village in Banswara district of neighbouring Rajasthan state, demanded their release.
“We want our children to be immediately released,” Prakash Baria, the father of one of the girls said on July 26.
Two of the girls are in grade 11 and the other in grade 12. They reportedly said they wanted to become Catholic nuns, which was interpreted as a religious conversion activity by the inspection team, Baria said.
Baria along with the other parents arrived in Jhabua and questioned the authorities’ decision which was made without even informing them.
We are tribal people who have followed the Catholic faith since our forefathers’ time. Why are our children kept in the custody
“We are tribal people who have followed the Catholic faith since our forefathers’ time. Why are our children kept in the custody” of the officials, Baria asked.
Samsun Makwana, another parent, asked: “Is it a crime to become a nun?”
He said, “Even if our daughters have said that they want to become nuns, what is the problem?”
Makwana said his daughter had studied up to class 10 in the village school and was sent to the Catholic school for further studies and she was accommodated in the Church-run hostel.
The parents said on July 26 that they plan legal action against the child welfare authorities if their daughters are not released.
Ashok Arora, chairperson of the CWC, explained that custody of the girls was handed to them by the state’s child rights panel team.
He then accused the hostel of violating norms and asked: “Is a school hostel a place to keep candidates who want to be nuns or give them training?”
Arora said the girls would be legally handed over to the CWC from Banswara district in Rajasthan.
…it was ‘“’unfortunate that innocent girls are being treated like criminals through no fault of theirs
Sister Troppo
“This is sheer harassment,” said Sister Pramila Toppo, who is in charge of the hostel and superior of the Convent of Missionary Sisters of Ajmer.
She said that it was “unfortunate that innocent girls are being treated like criminals through no fault of theirs.”
Sister Toppo said, “It seemed a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of our education institutions.”
Madhya Pradesh, which is ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, amended and sharpened its anti-conversion law in 2021 which prohibits unlawful conversion from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, any other fraudulent means, and allurement. Violators face a prison term of up to 10 years.
Christian leaders say the law is often used to target Christians in remote, tribal-dominated areas of the state.
“The frequency of the attacks on Christians has drastically increased” since the law was amended, said Daniel John, a Catholic leader based in the state capital of Bhopal.
John explained that both the federal and state child rights panels have been harassing Church-run schools, hostels and orphanages, through surprise inspections, and false cases against priests, nuns, staff members, and even bishops.
