Coal Mafia Kills Tribal Rights Activist Nun Valsa John

Mangalore Today / PTI

Ranchi, Nov 17: Goons belonging to a local coal mafia in Jharkhand’s Pakur district on Wednesday  killed a Catholic nun Valsa John (52), who was involved in a movement against displacement of tribal people by coal mining companies, by first beating her and then slit her throat to death.

The murder took place  in  Bachuwari village of Pakur district, 430 km from here. .

Valsa John had been stging protests  over the displacement of tribals because of a  private coal mine in Pakur district. She was staying at Bachuwari for the last 12 years, all by herself.

 

 

Valsa John was seeking to protect the interests of the Santhal tribe, some members of which were displaced by the Panem Coal Mines.

Police said,  some unidentified men approached her house around midnight. When she opened the door, she was beaten with sticks and later slit her throat leading to her death.

The nun, who hailed from Kerala, was arrested in 2007 after she protested against the functioning of a coal mine on tribal land.

Valsa John was protesting against mining corporations that were exploiting the tribal people of the Pakur region, said Father Babu Joseph, a local spokesperson for the Catholic Church. “We’ve appealed to the government for an investigation.”

“We’re investigating. Only after a detailed investigation can we provide a clear picture,” said Amarnath Khanna, Superintendent of Police.

“Three years ago she had filed an FIR, wherein she reported that she was facing death threats. But she didn’t mention any name,” he added.

PTI reports from Kochi: Sister Valsa John had told her family members in Vazhakala at Kakkanad in Ernakulam district that she faced death threats from the mining mafia, one of her brothers said on Wednesday.

During a visit in August, she spoke of death threats from the coal mining mafia that she was fighting in order to protect the tribal community, Baby, her younger brother, said.

He said Sister Valsa spoke to her elder sister in Kochi on the phone on Tuesday evening and discussed her problems.

Sister Valsa was a member of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary congregation for the last 24 years.

Baby, along with one of his sisters, is set to leave for Jharkhand to attend the funeral, expected to be held on Thursday.