In a gruesome incident on Friday (April 22), Father Albert, 67, lured and raped a minor Dalit girl in his room in a church in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat. The police have arrested the accused.
On Friday (April 22), an 11-year-old Dalit girl was cycling around the church when Father Albert lured her with an offer of some cash. Once she was inside his room, he grabbed her and tore her clothes. When she protested, he threatened her with dire consequences. The victim cried and begged for mercy, but Father Albert did not relent.
The victim’s mother got suspicious when she saw bloodstains. When she enquired with her daughter, the victim started crying and narrated the incident.
The victim’s mother went to the local police station in Baghpat and registered a case against Father Albert. “The girl’s mother told the police that the priest had been molesting the minor for nearly a month and had been giving the girl money to keep quiet. On Friday evening, the girl told her mother that she had been raped by the priest. She also told her mother that the accused used to touch her inappropriately and show her obscene films on his mobile phone,” the police said.
Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR under the Prevention of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and other relevant sections of the IPC. The police arrested Father Albert and sent him for medical examination. DNA samples of both the accused as well as the victim have been collected.
“Following the complaint of the mother, we arrested the priest and the girl has been taken to the hospital for the medical examination. We also collected DNA samples of the two. The priest has been booked under the SC/ST Act and the POCSO Act. He was sent to jail on Sunday,” The Indian Express quoted Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), Baghpat, Vijay Chaudhary.
Father Albert is a native of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
As reported by the Organiser in July last year, the Tamil Nadu police had busted a brothel running inside a church in the Kanyakumari district. They had arrested seven people, including Pastor Rev. Dr Lal N S Shine Singh and four women.
Pastor Rev. Dr Lal N S Shine Singh, who was also the church president, was running the brothel for a long time. The church is reportedly one of the largest in the area.
After the police gathered intelligence input on the complaints, they raided the church to arrest the culprits red-handed.
The pastor reportedly confessed to running a brothel in the church during the interrogation. One of the arrested sex workers revealed that she was forced into prostitution by her mother.
In January this year, a 39-year-old Pastor in Gujarat’s Tapi district was arrested for raping a 16-year-old girl. His wife, who had filmed the rape to blackmail the victim, was also arrested. The pastor and his wife had threatened the victim with dire consequences if she revealed about rape to anybody.
