Blessed Rani Maria/ Regina Mariam Vattalil

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Martyrdom, beatification

Salil Mekaad |Slain nun to be beatified, her killer moved to tears, The Times of India

The Franciscan Clarist nun worked among landless people in Udainagar, around 54km from Indore, fighting against bonded labour. Her work angered some people, who hired Samandar Singh to eliminate her.

On February 25, 1995, Sister Maria was coming to Indore by bus when Singh stabbed her from behind. The nun jumped off the bus but Singh followed her, stabbing viciously even when she collapsed on the roadside. Singh was sentenced to life for the murder. Sister Selmy Paul, the slain nun's younger sister, visited him in jail in 2002.She accepted him as her brother -and her entire family took him in as a member.

Her killer Samandar Singh, who now spends his days praying at her shrine, was moved to tears on hearing of it. “What I did is unpardonable. I repent every day . Now that church is set to beatify her, I feel happy that her good works are noticed,“ Singh told TOI on Friday . Sentenced to life imprisonment, he walked free in 2006 after Sister Maria's family pleaded for his early release.

“I know I committed a crime that has no justification. I feel sorry for her. I have been praying that God gives me strength to stay away from evil and prevent others from indulging in such acts,“ he said.

The cause for Sister Maria's sainthood was initiated in 2001, by the then Bishop George Anathil of Indore diocese. He established two commissions to examine her life and the findings were submitted to a three-member diocesan inquiry tribunal set up in 2005.

22 years after Sister Rani Maria was stabbed to death on a bus to Indore, will be beatified as a martyr after Pope Francis signed the decree.

Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal, expressing happiness that Sister Maria is going to be beatified, said she worked for abolishing bonded labour in the area, which some powerful people disliked.

Cardinal George Alencherry of Ernakulam-Angamaly in Kerala issued a release, saying that Pope Francis has `signed a recommendation' from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on March 23 2017 to promulgate the `decree of martyrdom' of the Franciscan Clarist nun and beatify her.

“The date of the announcement is not decided. I had a talk with the Indore diocese, we may keep it in October this year,“ said Archbishop Cornelio.