“We are relieved that they are out on bail and hope the truth will come out,” Sister Rosaline Rodrigues, president of the western region of the Conference of Religious India (CRI), told UCA News on July 15.
Sisters Suchita Gaikwad and Alka Salunke of the Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod, along with caretaker Anwelari Bhagwandas, were arrested in the western state's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) district.
The police arrest was based on the complaint of nine girls, who escaped from the nuns-managed Vidyadeep (light of knowledge) Children’s Home. They complained to the district welfare authorities about a lack of facilities and ill-treatment by the nuns and caretaker.
District Court Judge M. S. Deshpande granted bail on the condition that each of them furnish a personal bond of 50,000 rupees (approximately US$580) and separate local sureties of the same amount.
The July 14 bail order also stated that the accused must cooperate with the investigation, refrain from tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses, and seek prior permission of the court before leaving its jurisdiction.
It further asked them to report to the local police every Sunday until the police file the chargesheet in the case.
A member of the Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod said this was a straightforward plot hatched to make use of the children to defame our sisters.
The nine girls had requested that the nuns arrange a meeting with the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to address their complaints on June 29.
The CWC members also agreed to meet them on June 30 in the afternoon, but did not arrive until evening.
Later that evening, the girls reached the terrace of the children’s home building and escaped by climbing down to a lower roof and jumping from it, according to local media reports.
They then went to the CWC office and alleged a lack of facilities and ill-treatment by the two nuns and the caretaker of the children's home.
“While nine girls revolted and complained to the authorities, the remaining 71 girls at our home are positive, who want to bring back their nine sisters who went away,” CRI’s Rodrigues said.
Some of the issues raised by the girls are being attended to, she said.
“The situation was aggravated because officials of CWC, who had been given time to visit the children's home, did not turn up. But the local media sensationalized it,” said Bishop Bernard Lancy Pinto of Aurangabad.
He said the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on July 8 took suo motu cognizance of news reports published since July 1, alleging ill-treatment of minor girls at the children’s home.
A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Sanjay Deshmukh observed that, despite repeated complaints by the children, the authorities had failed to take meaningful action.
The court ordered the case to be registered as a public interest litigation. It also appointed a senior advocate as amicus curiae to assist the bench in the proceedings.
Bishop Pinto said that the nuns at the children’s home “have served and educated the poor and disadvantaged children in their schools with selfless dedication for over a century.”
“We are fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation," the prelate added.