K'taka: Dalit family reverts to Hinduism, accuses pastor of forcibly converting them to Christianity
The local court has sent the pastor and his wife to judicial custody while their son has been sent to a remand home in Ballari. The main accused has been identified as Satyanarayan alias Samuel.
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Bengaluru, December 12: Following the complaint of the Dalit man who accused the church pastor and his wife forced them to convert to Christianity, the Koppal police arrested the pastor and his family under the relevant section of IPC. As per the reports, the police have also imposed a POCSO act against the 17-year-old son of the pastor for sexually assaulting the minor daughter of the Dalit family, belonging to the Budgajangam community.
The local court has sent the pastor and his wife to judicial custody while their son has been sent to a remand home in Ballari. The main accused has been identified as Satyanarayan alias Samuel.
Meanwhile, the Dalit family who was earlier converted to Christianity has reverted to Hinduism under the aegis of Marulasideshwara Swamiji and the Hindu outfit Hindu Jagarana Vedike.
Shankar, one of the victims whose family was converted by the pastor said in his complaint that pastor Satyanarayana alias Samuel, who runs Grace Prayer Centre in Karatagi, Koppal, had converted him by luring him with money. He accused the pastor of threatening them against praying to Hindu Gods or even keeping pictures of Hindu deities in their house.
“After I was baptised by the pastor, he asked us to follow the rituals of Christianity and warned us to not pray to Hindu deities. He also confiscated the photographs of Hindu deities from our home and threw them into a canal, where he later baptised other members of my family,” Shankar alleged in his complaint.
He also accused the pastor’s wife, Shivamma Sara, of taking his children and involving them in church activities.
Shankar further told the police that when he told the local authorities about the forced conversion, they were allegedly threatened and physically assaulted by the pastor. The pastor warned the victim’s family that praying to Hindu gods would cause them to go to hell. The pastor terrorized Shankar further by warning that if he dared to return to Hinduism, he would kill Shankar and have his children raped.
While Shankar was contemplating filing a complaint against the pastor, the latter’s 17-year-old son raped his 15-year-old daughter on the pretext of marrying her. This finally prompted Shankar to approach the police on December 9 and file an official complaint against the pastor and his wife accusing them of forced conversions and one against the pastor’s son as well, accusing him of raping his minor daughter.
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