A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday sentenced a pastor to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy at a church in suburban Dadar in Mumbai in 2015.
The convict, Father Johnson Lawrence, was found guilty of violations of the relevant provisions of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO).
As per the prosecution, the minor boy was sexually assaulted twice by the pastor from the duration between August to November 2015.
In his statement to the police, the victim said he had gone to the church in Dadar’s Shivaji Nagar with his brother on November 27, 2015. He was called inside by the pastor after the prayers on the pretext of keeping a box following which the priest closed the door from the inside and sexually assaulted him, the victim told the police.
The boy further added that the pastor committed a similar act a few months earlier as well. A similar statement was made by the minor boy before the magistrate.
Christian pastor arrested in Andhra Pradesh for sexually harassing minor Dalit girls
Earlier in November 2021, a Christian pastor was arrested for sexual harassment of minor Dalit girls in a church in Andhra Pradesh. OpIndia reached out to Prerna Thiruvaipati, SC-ST Women & Child Rights Activist and Dalit Researcher for details about the case. Thiruvaipati had approached NCPCR as Police was not registering the case and allegedly trying to get the matter settled outside the court of Law.
Prerna said that the incident took place on October 6, 2021, in the Church premises. On October 7, the mothers of the two minor girls, who are 8-year-old and 6-year-old respectively, approached Police to file a complaint against Pastor Ravindra Prasanna Kumar and his female accomplice, who was present inside the Covenant Church at the time of the incident of sexual molestation occurred. Notably, both girls do not have a father.
She added that the Sub-Inspector Maruthi of Chagallamarri Mandal Police Station allegedly refused to file a complaint in the matter. The mothers further alleged that the SI had accepted a bribe of Rs. 1 lakh from the accused. He also tried to pursue the mothers to resolve the matter outside the court of Law.
But later a complaint was registered after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) intervened in the case. On the intervening night of November 12 and November 13, Kurnool Police arrested Pastor Father Uppalapati Ravindra Prasanna Kumar of Chatthiveedu Gramam Chagallamarri Mandal, District Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, for allegedly sexually harassing two minor SC girls in the Church premises.
