Author: Subir Bhaumik
in Calcutta
Publication: BBC News
Date: September 18,
2000
The head of the Missionaries
of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, has surrendered to a Calcutta court
after the charity and one of its nuns were accused of torturing a seven-year-old
girl.
The organisation's leader,
Sister Nirmala, was granted bail on a surety of 5,000 rupees ($110).
But the case against
the Missionaries of Charity was not dropped and the next hearing will take
place in October.
A local rag-picker, Kaviran
Mondal, has filed a criminal case against the Missionaries of Charity and
a nun, Sister Francesco, who heads its home for destitute children in central
Calcutta.
He has accused them of
burning the hand of his daughter as an act of punishment.
Embarassment
Mr Mondal says he is
too poor to look after his two daughters, both of whom live in the Missionaries
of Charity home.
The whereabouts of Sister
Francesco are not known and all attempts to get her version of the story
have been unsuccesful.
The Missionaries of Charity
are facing embarassment over the case, but Sister Nirmala says she will
not try to suppress evidence at any cost.
