BENGALURU: The 45th Additional City Civil and Sessions Court refused to grant bail to a 31-year-old priest from a Christian mission for allegedly sexually harassing a 27-year-old woman, who joined the mission to become a nun, forcing her to have sex, claiming “it is God’s work”.
“It is very clear that the petitioner has not made out any grounds for his release on bail. The petitioner has committed such an offence against a woman, which affects the self-esteem and respect of women,” said Judge E Rajeeva Gowda, rejecting the bail petition of Sam Satya Nesan, the accused from Tamil Nadu.
Police said, the woman wanted to serve God. So she left her house and stayed in a paying guest accommodation. She joined the mission on Kanakapura Road in March 2026. On the night of April 23, she and two other women and the accused went to a hotel in JP Nagar to have dinner. The victim went to her paying guest accommodation at midnight, but it was closed. She informed the accused, who told her that he had booked a cab for her to go to his mission.
Accordingly, she reached there at 1am. When she was sleeping in the room of the accused, he allegedly told her to have sex with him, saying it was “God’s work”. When she refused, he allegedly molested her and recorded it on a mobile phone, which he showed to her and threatened her.
In his bail plea, the accused claimed he was innocent and that he had been falsely implicated. The complainant did not raise any alarm despite allegedly being inside the religious institution.
She remained on the premises throughout the night and till next noon. Thereafter, she left for her paying guest accommodation. There was no immediate medical examination, no allegation of physical injury and no complaint to any person in the mission. The complaint was lodged with jurisdictional police on May 7, the accused said.
The public prosecutor submitted that the bail petition is not maintainable in law or on facts as there are sufficient materials to show that the petitioner is involved in non-bailable offences. The investigation is in progress and the custodial interrogation of the petitioner is needed. If he is released on bail, he will again cause mental and physical harassment to the complainant and also try to destroy evidence and tamper with the witnesses.