CHANDIGARH: A pastor and 12 others have been booked for rape and kidnapping at Dera Baba Nanak police station in Gurdaspur district, Punjab, following a complaint by a 22-year-old woman.
Sources said that the victim in her complaint alleged that the accused pastor, Manjit Singh, used to beat her up and forced her to convert.
In her complaint, she alleged that Sawar Masih procured her ID from her cousin brother, Napinder Singh and started following her on the social media platform.
"On January 19, Sawar and his family members kidnapped me from my house and threatened me with sharp-edged weapons. Later, they took me to an unknown place where I was kept for three months and was repeatedly raped and thrased,’’ she alleged.
She further alleged that Pastor Manjit Singh also came there and said from now onwards she was a Christian. "I was locked inside the house. A pastor (Manjit Singh) also came there and forcibly gave me water to drink and told me that I was no longer a Sikh and had converted to Christianity. The pastor also molested me. They forcibly made me sign a document that I have a live-in relationship with Sawar Masih and I also got pregnant,’’ she said in her complaint. She managed to escape on April 13 after Sawar and his family had gone outside and had forgotten to lock her inside the house.
Sources said that the police have booked pastor Manjit Singh, Sawar Masih, his father Kashmir Masih, sisters Kajal, Rina and Jina, the victim’s cousin, Napinder Singh, Parvez Masih, Happy Masih all resident of Kalanaur, Rajinder Singh and Rimi of residents of Thikriwal village in Gurdaspur district besides two unknown persons under Sections 70, 127 (4) and 61 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) as case has been registered at the Dera Baba Nanak police station.
A police official said that the police is investigating the matter and several teams have been formed, and the accused will be arrested soon.
Her brother Manpreet Singh said that they had been searching for her sister for three months, but to no avail.
"We also got missing reports registered at the police station. The panchayat of my village also came to our support, but the police did not take any action and faced hardship in getting the FIR registered against the accused,’’ he claimed.
This is the third incident in which Christian pastors have been involved. Earlier on April 1 Pastor Bajinder Singh was sentenced on rape charges while on April 9 another self-styled pastor Jashan Gill accused of raping a 22 year old girl in 2023 had surrendered before Gurdaspur police.