For Sister Rani Maria, a nun from Kerala, her posting at Udainagar, 58 kilometres from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, was another destination to help indigent tribes in the area. Her work with tribal communities in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh and Satna, Madhya Pradesh, had helped her gain an understanding of the myriad problems of the downtrodden.
Realising that the tribal community was exploited by rapacious moneylenders in the area, she tried to empower the tribals by giving them information on government subsidies and loans, which would free them from the grip of the moneylenders. In the process, she antagonised some of the them who felt threatened by her work. During the five years she worked in Indore, Sister Rani Maria, an activist and social reformer, created self-help groups so that they could avail of government loans and subsidies. She helped the tribals to farm their lands. Thus the landlords were unable to get cheap labour for their farms. She also sought legal help to stop the exploitation by the zamindars.
On February 25, 1995, 41-year-old Rani Maria had to pay with her life as a local farmer murdered her on the behest of those she had angered.
