Investigators find no merit in conversion allegations made by Bajrang Dal against nun and children.
A nun and 19 Adivasi children were questioned at the Tatanagar railway station in Jharkhand on Friday after disembarking from a train, following concerns raised by members of the Hindutva organization, Bajrang Dal, regarding alleged religious conversion. According to reports, investigators have yet to find any merit in the allegations made by Bajrang Dal.
The group comprised four boys and fifteen girls, along with the nun, who were reportedly made to wait at the station for approximately five hours. Christian rights groups have claimed that Bajrang Dal vigilantes posted photos and videos of the minors on social media, which has raised further concerns among community advocates.
The nun reported that she and the children were closely followed by two men while traveling on the South Bihar Express between Kharsawan and Jamshedpur. They were en route to participate in a life-skills training program. She recounted that the traveling ticket examiner (TTE) discreetly inquired about their destination. The situation escalated when a large crowd gathered, leading to passengers and the TTE questioning the religious backgrounds of the minors.
To address the concerns, the nun presented the ticket examiner with letters of permission from the children’s guardians and the village chief, which authorized their travel. She emphasized that the program had been conducted regularly for several years, and that some of the children were from non-Christian families who continue to practice their own faiths.
However, some of the children did not possess their Aadhaar cards, having decided to join the program at the last minute. The nun reached out to the program director, priest Birendra Tete, after being informed that the group might be handed over to the police. Upon arriving at the station, Tete observed the children waiting on the platform without the presence of female police personnel, while they were encircled by Bajrang Dal members taking pictures of the minor girls.
Tete claimed that the nun and the children remained at the station from 11 PM on Friday until around 4 AM on Saturday. They were initially with the Railway Protection Force before being questioned by the Government Railway Police. Following the questioning, the children were eventually taken to the training program after the Bajrang Dal members departed, and they have since returned home.
Pradeep Gupta, an official from Child Helpline 1098, stated that no suspicious activity had been detected, and that their role was limited to ensuring the welfare of the children involved. Deputy Superintendent of Police Jayshree Kujur commented that no confirmed cases of religious conversion had occurred, although she noted that the investigation remains ongoing.
Arun Singh, head of the local Bajrang Dal unit, claimed that a member of the organization had observed “protective threads” on the children’s wrists, which prompted further inquiries. He suggested that the minors were unable to provide clear responses when questioned. Both the nun and priest stated that they had permission from parents to take the children to Jamshedpur for the training program, which Singh argued was inappropriate for the children’s age.
Regarding the Bajrang Dal members’ alleged documentation of the children through photos and videos, Singh stated this was done to gather evidence. This incident follows a previous case in July, where two nuns from Kerala were arrested on similar allegations of human trafficking and religious conversion at a railway station in neighboring Chhattisgarh.
