Thiruvananthapuram: Daya Bai, a social activist, had revealed that when she was a nun, she used to inflict burns on her body to prevent sexual abuse.

“I had a bad experience with the person I respected the most. To abort attempts to abuse me, I even burnt my body with candlelight. I hoped that when the burns become bruises, I would get protection from abuse,” Daya Bai spoke to the media on Tuesday.   

Daya Bai stated that she didn’t know that such incidents happened in seminaries earlier. “When I was alone, a priest grabbed my hand. After that, I have never gone to him though he had called me. The circumstance then didn’t allow me to tell this to anyone, even in the confession chamber.”

However, Daya Bai added, “Nowadays, in many seminaries, the situation has changed.” Daya Bai joined the seminary at the age of 16. Later, she renounced the holy apron as she could no more cope with 'church life'. 

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