Pastor arrested from Delhi international airport for rape

MOHALI: Police on Thursday arrested a pastor, known as ‘healer baba’ in Punjab, from Delhi international airport for allegedly raping a 31-year-old woman on the pretext of sending her abroad. The resident of Zirakpur had filed a complaint against the pastor in April this year, saying he raped her several times and even made a video of it.
According to the police, the 35-year-old pastor was a native of Yamunanagar and had been living in Chandigarh.Police said he was not associated with any church and was a self-proclaimed healer, who used to give sermons.

He was caught from the Delhi airport when he was about to board a flight to London to be part of an event to be held there on July 21.
The complainant, who hails from Hoshiarpur district, told the police that the pastor had threatened her that if she lodged a complaint against him or did not agree to his demands, he would post her video on social media. Police said in April the woman narrated her ordeal to a human rights activist, who helped her in lodging an FIR.
A case has been registered against him under various sections of the IPC and the Information Technology (IT) Act at Zirakpur police station.
Apart from the pastor, six of his associates were also booked in the case.
“We had received the rape complaint in April this year. The accused was on the run since. We had issued a look-out notice against him and nabbed him when he was leaving for England,” said Zirakpur SHO Pawan Kumar. He said the pastor was not associated with any organization or church.
The survivor, in her complaint, stated that she first attended a prayer meeting of the accused at a place located near Chatt village two years ago. “On July 7, 2017, he called on my cellphone and asked me to join him at an eating joint on Chandigarh-Ambala highway. He also asked me to bring along my passport. When I reached the eating joint, he took me to his flat in Chandigarh in his SUV. There he told me he would go to England and promised to take me along,” she added in the FIR.
She alleged that he gave her sedatives and raped her in his flat. Thereafter he raped her several times after administering sedatives. He also recorded a video of her and issued threats.
Cops said they produced the pastor in the local court and got his remand for two days. The accused is married and has two kids.