Jhansi Police Arrests Two People For Forcing Nuns Off A Train

Nuns harassment case: Two people have been arrested by the Jhansi police for allegedly verbally harassing four Christian women, including two nuns on March 19 and forcing them off a train. The nuns were falsely accused of forcing the other two women for religious conversion.

UP police have now arrested Anchal Ajariya and Purgesh Amariya in connection with the case. Ajariya claims to be an office-bearer of Hindu Jagaran Manch and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and also is a member of Gau Raksha Samiti.

The men were arrested after they were reportedly found discussing the March 19 incident and accusing the police, of not doing their work properly by letting the nuns go easily. The police brought the men for questioning where they got agitated and said that they will be planning a protest against the police.

A senior official of the Railway police, Naeem Kham Mansoori said that the police has taken suo moto cognizance of the case. They will file an FIR and send the men to jail.

The case against the two men has been lodged at the GRP police station in Jhansi. According to the District Magistrate of Jhansi, Andra Vamsi, the men were held by the police for the breach of peace under CrPC provisions. They were arrested based on video evidence found against them regarding the March 19 incident.

According to the GRP SHO of Jhansi, Sunil Kumar Singh, the men in question were not travelling with the nuns on the day of the incident but played a role in their deboarding, thus they have been brought for questioning.

Two nuns and their two novices were forced to get off a train at the Jhansi station of Uttar Pradesh on 19 March 2021. Some of the members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) suspected the nuns of conducting forced religious conversions of the other two women and submitted a written complaint against them.

The police found no basis for the complaint and said that the accusations were false. It was only after the inquiry was done that the nuns were allowed to go.

On March 30, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi slammed BJP youth wing leaders for their role in the alleged harassment case. The allegations were made as ABVP is said to be the student's wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, the parent organisation of BJP.

"Who gave the men of the BJP youth wing permission and authority to harass women on a train? Who gave them the right to check the identity papers of the nuns and two girls with them. Who allowed them to ask what their religion was? Are we to believe that in our country women cannot take a train without being harassed by someone and she is answerable to some goons about what she stands for and what she believes in?" she asked during an election rally inKarunagapally in the Kollam district of Kerala. Read more on that here.