Bishop Thomas Mathew thanks police for swift resolution after nuns detained in Madhya Pradesh, recalling past tensions over false trafficking allegations.
Newsroom (09/04/2026 Gaudium Press )When Bishop Thomas Mathew of Indore learned that a group of Catholic sisters had been detained at a central Indian railway station, he feared the worst. But within hours, the tense episode ended without escalation—a fact for which the bishop later said he was “grateful to God.”
“It could have turned out to be much worse, but we are grateful that it was resolved,” Bishop Mathew told Catholic Connect, the Indian Catholic website that first reported the group’s release.
Unexpected Detention at Indore Junction
The incident occurred on April 7 at Indore Junction railway station in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Two sisters and eight young women—candidates discerning their vocation with the Sisters of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Syro-Malabar congregation—were preparing to travel home to Odisha for a family vacation when police detained them.
Authorities reportedly acted on an allegation of human trafficking, a serious, non-bailable offense in India that carries a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison. According to Bishop Mathew, the group managed to contact Church leaders and relatives during the ordeal.
“Some of the Fathers in the diocese, including the procurator, were contacted, and they in turn reached out to higher railway police officials,” the bishop said, explaining how Church intervention helped secure the group’s release.
Although the sisters and candidates missed their scheduled train, Mathew emphasized that “a potential Durg was averted.”
Echoes of the Durg Incident
The bishop’s reference recalls a traumatic episode in July 2025, when two nuns from the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate were arrested at Durg railway station in neighboring Chhattisgarh. The nuns had arranged to meet three young women who, according to reports, were set to begin work with the congregation in Agra. The women were members of the Protestant Church of South India and possessed letters of parental consent.
Their meeting, however, drew the attention of a mob that included Hindu nationalist activists, who accused the nuns of plotting to convert the women to Christianity. The nuns were subsequently charged with human trafficking and forced religious conversion—offenses that triggered national outrage. Released on bail a month later, they became symbols of a broader debate over religious freedom in India.
Religious Sensitivity and Political Implications
The Durg controversy placed India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in an awkward position. While the BJP government in Chhattisgarh defended the arrests, the party’s Kerala branch—where the Syro-Malabar Catholic community wields considerable influence—sought to distance itself from the incident. Opposition parties used the case to argue that the BJP represented a growing threat to the country’s religious minorities.
Reports following the Durg case suggested that nuns traveling through railway systems in BJP-ruled states were informally advised to wear simple attire rather than religious habits to avoid confrontation.
In Madhya Pradesh, where more than 90% of the population identifies as Hindu and only about 0.3% as Christian, such tensions remain plausible. The state, like Chhattisgarh, has seen a rise in allegations of forced conversions in recent years, often aimed at members of small Christian communities.
Bishop’s Call for Vigilance
Reflecting on both the Indore detention and the lingering effects of similar incidents, Bishop Mathew acknowledged the heavy toll these episodes take.
“We may be proved innocent later,” he said, “but the loss of time, money, and peace of mind remains.”
In a message to his diocese, he urged caution among clergy and faithful, advising them to remain vigilant while traveling and aware that their movements may be monitored.
The Syro-Malabar Church—one of the world’s largest Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome, with around five million members globally—continues to operate in a climate of wary co-existence in several northern and central Indian states. Though its roots remain in Kerala, many of its religious congregations now work across India, including in regions where Christianity remains a tiny minority.
For Bishop Mathew and his community, the Indore episode served as both relief and warning: that while swift action and communication can prevent crisis, the underlying climate of suspicion still shadows India’s small Christian minority.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from The Pillar
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