India acquits Hindu right-wing defendants due to lack of evidence, but keeps two nuns in prison

Pragya Singh Thakur, leader of the extreme right-wing nationalist party, and six other defendants have been acquitted of a 2008 attack that killed seven people in Malegaon ‘due to lack of evidence’. Meanwhile, in Chhattisgarh, two nuns remain in prison after being accused of forced conversions despite no evidence to support the charge. The case is sparking political protests and new accusations of repression against religious minorities.

Mumbai/Raipur (AsiaNews) - After a 17-year trial, an Indian special court today acquitted all seven defendants in the Malegaon bombing, including former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, ‘due to lack of evidence’. On 29 September 2008, a bomb hidden on a motorcycle exploded in Malegaon, Maharashtra, killing six people and injuring 101 others. Meanwhile, however, two nuns arrested in Chhattisgarh on charges of forced conversions have not been granted bail, yet another sign of repression against religious minorities.

The verdict, handed down by Special Judge A. K. Lahoti, assessed the evidence gathered by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and, subsequently, by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). According to the court, the device was probably placed outside the motorcycle and not inside, while some medical certificates had been tampered with.

No evidence emerged as to the origin or storage of the device in Purohit's home, nor was there any evidence to suggest that the officer had prepared the bomb. The judge noted that there was no evidence to identify who parked the motorcycle or who planted the bomb.

The report on the scene of the explosion was deemed flawed and the collection of evidence was not carried out by experts, with forensic results that cannot be considered conclusive. The available wiretaps were also deemed unreliable due to inadequate authorisation for interception, even though the meetings that allegedly led to the organisation of the attack were initially considered central to the investigation. However, according to the court, the prosecution failed to prove that the meetings took place or that a conspiracy was hatched.

With regard to the Abhinav Bharat association, founded in 2006 by a retired army major and close to the Hindu far right, the court acknowledged that Sudhakar Chaturvedi was its treasurer and Purohit a trustee. Although the latter used the organisation's funds for personal expenses, the court found that there was no evidence that the funds were used for terrorist activities. All the defendants were thus acquitted, while the state will have to pay 200,000 rupees (approximately 2,000 euros) to the families of the victims and 50,000 rupees (approximately 500 euros) to the injured.

Sadhvi Pragya, a former member of parliament from Bhopal and activist with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a far-right student organisation, has long been considered a symbol of Hindu ultra-nationalism. In 2019, she sparked national outrage with a comment in which she called Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, “a patriot”. Her father, Chandrapal Singh Thakur, was a member of the RSS, a notorious paramilitary organisation inspired by Hindutva ideology.

Meanwhile, in the central state of Chhattisgarh, two Indian nuns received completely different treatment. The Durg District Court declared that it had no jurisdiction over the bail applications filed by the nuns arrested at the railway station on 18 July on charges of ‘human trafficking and forced conversions’ and explained that the matter should be examined by the court designated by the National Investigation Agency at the High Court in Bilaspur.

According to lawyer Rajkumar Tiwari, speaking to the PTI news agency, the court ‘rejected the nuns' bail plea, observing that it does not have jurisdiction to examine the case and that they may have to approach a special court for further legal action.’ The police now have 15 days to request the central government to transfer the case file.

The nuns, Preeti Marry and Vandana Francis, are being held in Durg Central Prison. Their arrest, based on a complaint by a militant from Bajrang Dal, another far-right Hindu organisation, sparked protests by church groups and human rights activists. The families of the three women whom the nuns allegedly attempted to ‘traffick’ have denied the allegations, saying that they were adults and had given their consent to move.

‘The railway police's complaint is based solely on the suspicion that a crime has been committed. There has been no preliminary investigation, so the FIR is voidable,’ said lawyer Tamaskar Tondon.

The case has become a political battleground: Kerala MPs protested outside Parliament, while Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, sister of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accused the BJP of ‘atrocities against minorities.’ "It is not fair at all, these women cannot be mistreated and treated this way. You cannot accuse people of things they do not do. They are not acting on anything concrete,‘ Priyanka Gandhi added, ’so I don't expect any action, but it is our duty to put as much pressure on them as possible."

Brinda Karat, a member of the Indian Communist Party, tried to meet with the nuns. She later commented on the incident, saying that it should not be necessary for women to have written permission to go to work.

The president of the BJP in Kerala, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, strongly rejected the claim by the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, Vishnu Deo Sai, also of the BJP, that the nuns were involved in trafficking and religious conversions. ‘We believe that nothing of the sort has happened. It is an accusation. Let's see who did all these things and why,’ Chandrasekhar told reporters.

Sister Asha Paul, a nun from the Congregation of the Holy Family in Delhi, said that no Church representative was allowed to meet the detained nuns. ‘We have reason to believe that the young women were forced to change their statements. According to reports, they were forced to declare that they were taken against their will,’ Sister Ash said. ‘We have all the evidence of parental consent forms, identification and documentation proving that there was no coercion or conversion,’ the nun added.