Thousands bid a tearful farewell to Sister Valsa John, the murdered nun who was laid to rest at St Paul’s Cathedral in Jharkhand’s Pakur district yesterday while details emerged as to how she actually died.

On Tuesday night, the nun was sleeping in the house of a villager called Sonaram Hembrom when around 30-40 people armed with crude weapons laid siege to the house.

“The poor have lost a benefactor. The religious sister was serving the poor, especially tribals, and fighting for justice,” said Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi.