Bhopal: Sister Rani Maria, who died of 54 stab wounds from a hired assassin, moved closer to beatification on November 18 when her mortal remains were shifted to a church in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Sister Rani Maria’s grave “was opened and all her remains were shifted to inside a church close to her tomb as part of the ongoing process of her beatification,” Bishop Chacko Thottumarikal of Indore told mattersindia.com.
The Franciscan Clarist nun was buried in Udaingar in Dewas district where she had worked among poor landless agricultural laborers and others to fight for just wages and their other rights. This upset a group of landlords, who hired Samandar Singh to kill her.
Singh attacked the nun inside a bus on February 25, 1995 when she was traveling to Indore from Udaingar, her base. He then dragged out of the bus and continued stabbing until she died on the roadside at Nachanbore Hill as other passengers watched. The nun was on her way to Kerala, her native place, for vacation.
In 2007, the nun was declared a Servant of God, the first major step toward canonization. Bishop Thottumarikal said the grave opening process was delayed because of various reasons, including the death of his predecessor Bishop George Anathil, who had initiated the canonization process.
Asked about elevating the nun as a martyr, Bishop Thottumarikal said, “It is a matter at the consideration of the Vatican.”
Besides Bishop Thottumarikal, those present included the slain nun’s family members and Archbishops Leo Cornelio of Bhopal and Abraham Viruthakulangara, of Nagpur.
Meanwhile the slain nun’s family has accepted Singh as a member after forgiving him.
Sister Paul’s gesture helped Singh to regret his action. He now leads an exemplary life in his village in central India after serving his life term.
Rani Maria was born on January 29, 1954, as the second of seven children of Paily and Eliswa Vattathil at Pulluvazhy, a small tranquil village near Kochi, Kerala’s commercial capital.
She was baptized on February 5, the same year and was given the name Mariam.
She joined Franciscan Clarist Convent at Kidangoor near Palai in 1972 and made her first profession on May 1, 1974, and chose the name Rani (queen) Maria.
She began her mission in northern India in Bijmore in 1975 and then came to Udainagar in 1992.
A documentary, “The Heart of a Murderer,” which depicts the murder and subsequent repentance of Singh, won an award at the World Interfaith Harmony Film Festival in 2013.