Mariam Vattalil

Mariam Vattalil Biography

Mariam Vattalil, popularly known as Rani Maria was an Indian Syro Malabar professed religious and a social worker in the Franciscan Clarist Congregation. Her social service was mostly concentrated for the welfare of poor and she worked within the Diocese of Indore. She was beatified in Indore on 4 November 2017 and she became the first Indian female martyr to get this designation. Vattalil was murdered in a knife attack due to the hitman Samandar Singh at Nachanbore Hill in Indore on 25 February 1995. Her social service among the landless poor irked many landlords which resulted in her murder. Her cause of canonization commenced in 2003 and she was titled as a Servant of God.

Mariam Vattalil was born in Ernakulam, Kerala on 29 January 1954. She hailed from Pulluvazhy. She had 6 siblings. Vattalil made both her First Communion and Confirmation on 30 April 1966. Following the completion of her secondary schooling, she assumed the religious name of "Rani Maria" and joined the Franciscan Clarist Congregation at Kidangoor. Her cousin Cicily who became "Soni Maria" also joined her. The cousins entered the order on 3 July 1971 for their aspirancy period which concluded on 30 October 1972.

She entered her profession on 1 May 1974. On Christmas night 1974, she was sent to Saint Mary's convent in Bijnor. She served as a teacher for a brief period in the late 1970s. Her final profession of vows was taken on 22 May 1980 at Ankamaly in the church of Saint Hormis. She also worked in Aluva before she received a degree in sociology from the Rewa University. After that she was transferred to Udayanagar in 1992.

She was attacked with a knife by a hitman Samundar Singh on 25 February 1995 while she made her way to Indore in a bus. She had 40 severe cuts, besides several bruises. She succumbed to death uttering her final words, ‘Jesus!’ repeatedly. Samundar Singh was given a life term imprisonment. But when Mariam’s mother and sister visited him in prison and forgave him, he repented over his act. He was finally released in 2006. A documentary film, "The Heart of a Murderer" was made on him, which won at World Interfaith Harmony Film Festival of 2013.  A museum in her honour exists in Ernakulam. Her remains were exhumed for inspection and reburial on 18 November 2016 in Indore.

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Updated: November 04, 2017