J'khand: Seven arrested over nun's murder case

Ranchi, Nov 21: The Jharkhand Police on Sunday arrested seven people for killing the kerala origin nun Valsha John. She was killed in the Pakur district.

Arun Oraon, the inspector-general of Dumka gave the reason why the nun was killed, as to prevent her from taking a rape victim to the police and to save Edwin Murmu, the rapist from arrest.

"The accused admitted that Valsa was killed on Nov 15 because she was taking a rape victim to the police. If they hadn't killed her, the accused alleged, she could have used her influence to get Murmu arrested," said Oraon.

Around 45 people, including Maoists, were present during the murder. "The Maoists are trying to make inroads into Pakur to extort money from a mining company. The rebels, however, did not use firearms to kill her. They let the villagers do that so that they could convey a message that even an influential person like Valsa could be killed if Maoists did not approve of that person.

Over the past few years, there has been marked improvement in the lives of people engaged in direct business with Panem. On the other hand, those who worked with Valsa and got their share of development work allotted by the company to displaced people were not able to make much money. Since they saw Valsa as a hindrance, some villagers joined hands with Maoists and killed her. They thought that once Valsa was out, they would get her share of the work," Oraon added.

OneIndia News