The acquittal of an elderly Missionaries of Charity (MC) nun and two others in a much-publicized “child trafficking” case at Ranchi in the eastern state of Jharkhand has been widely hailed by the Church.
“We thank God for this (court) verdict. We are happy as our prayers have been heard,” Sister Concettina, MC secretary general, told EWTN News June 19 from the Mother House in Kolkata.
“Finally, 8 long years ordeal has come to an end,” Archbishop Vincent Aind of Ranchi and head of the Catholic Church in Jharkhand told EWTN News, reacting to the June 18 verdict of the Ranchi district court.
On July 4, 2018, 62-year-old MC Sister Concilia and two aides from the MC home for unwed mothers at Jail Road in Ranchi were arrested on the allegation by Rupa Verma, the chairwoman of the Child Welfare Committee for the Ranchi district, that the home had sold a 14-day-old infant boy to a couple.
The sensational news of “child trafficking” against the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded by Mother Teresa, made worldwide headlines.
A flurry of criticism followed after the federal Ministry for Women and Child Welfare under the Hindu nationalist BJP government tried to malign the MC congregation by even ordering inspection of all MC homes across the country, as detailed in this National Catholic Register report.
On July 11, The Republic, a major news channel known for publicizing BJP perspectives, alleged that the number of babies missing from the Missionaries of Charity home was as many as 280 and branded the congregation as a “multimillion corporation.” However, three days later, the channel abandoned its hyperbolic earlier allegation and reported instead about “three babies sold.”
Even the Supreme Court of India denied bail to the accused nun, who was released after 14 months on bail from the Jharkhand High Court.
“We are happy that the judiciary has thrown out the concocted case,” Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, who was then secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), told EWTN News.
“The whole allegation was part of a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the Church and has to be seen in the background of the political atmosphere in Jharkhand (under BJP rule) at the time with concerted attempts to discredit the Church. Church institutions were having visits of investigation teams in late evenings,” Mascarenhas said.
Following this case, he said, 22 children — from infants to those below five years — who were under nutritional care at the nearby MC home at Hinoo were taken away by the government, and two of the children died.
“I met the (federal) home minister to communicate the ridicule, humiliation, and distress the Missionaries of Charity congregation faced and the pain of the Church in India over the wild allegation,” said Mascarenhas, now bishop of Daltonganj in Jharkhand.
“I cannot forget the face of the tearful Sr. Concilia when I met her in jail when she told me ‘I am hungry for Eucharist,’” he added.
Meanwhile, church sources in Ranchi told EWTN News that the news of the court’s rejection of the “child trafficking” charge against the MCs has been virtually blacked out in the Jharkhand media, let alone the entire national media.