A woman with an intellectual disability, known only as Sangeetha, was abused by a group of lorry drivers and abandoned at Nelyady, a town in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Some Catholic nuns noticed Sangeetha roaming the town and brought her to their convent.
Sangeetha prompted the Sisters of the Imitation of Christ, also known as the Bethany sisters, to open Asha Bhavan (abode of hope), a home for disabled and abandoned women, at Ichilampady, an interior village near Nelyady, which is approximately 230 miles west of Bengaluru, the state capital.
Didi was the second woman the nuns picked up. Since they did not know her name, the nuns called her “Didi” (elder sister). When Global Sisters Report visited the centre on August 1, Sangeetha and Didi, both Hindus, shared their traumatic experiences and sang together, revealing their improved state of mind.
Sister Bhagya Thalichirayil, Asha Bhavan director, said that women’s empowerment is their congregation’s main charism, sharing that Asha Bhavan is among 29 centres her century-old Syro-Malankara congregation manages for disabled and abandoned women in various parts of India.
“Like Sangeeta, we have picked up several women from places where truck drivers usually stop for their food, rest or bath,” said the 49-year-old nun, who prefers to be called by her first name. Truck drivers plying long routes on highways often pick up destitute women and girls and drop them at various locations after sexually exploiting them. Asha Bhavan has 31 such residents. The Bethany leader said they have 369 mission centres for catechesis, women’s empowerment and rural development, in addition to special schools for children with intellectual and physical disabilities. They also conduct programs for migrant workers, form disaster response teams and provide trauma-informed pastoral care.
