Dear Sister X,

We feel inadequate to write to you in this time of unjust trial - we do not want to glorify bravery, courage, or strength to fight systems that have been designed to break us. We just want to stand with you.

Today, we will not put on a pedestal those oft-quoted values of kindness, generosity, and long-suffering in adversity.

Today, we just want to be with you in strength, truth, prayer, rage, and love. We will be with you, we will believe you and we will believe in you for as long as you need us to.

In solidarity,
Chitrakoot Collective.

The Kerala nun rape case verdict came out six days ago, in which the accused Bishop Franco was acquitted. In our view, this was an unjust trial. Time and time again, Indian jurisprudence has failed to deliver justice to survivors of violence, subjecting them to the most harrowing of trials instead of the accused. Sister X who came out in 2018 and gave a sterling statement was not alone, she has found support in sisters from her convent who have pushed back against a regressive patriarchal system that includes Bishop Franco. Read more on this case here : https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.thenewsminute.com/article/why-bishop-franco-mulakkal-was-acquitted-even-though-no-witnesses-turned-hostile-159987%3famp

Now, feminists across India have started a campaign to send letters to the sisters of Kuravilangad convent in Kottayam, Kerala to offer support and solidarity. They are not alone in this fight. We are not alone.

#avalkoppam #withthenuns