A Mohali court on April 1, 2025 sentenced life imprisonment to pastor Bajinder Singh in a 2018 rape case. The development came after the court, last week, pronounced the pastor guilty in connection to the case. The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Vikrant Kumar pronounced the verdict.
Reacting to the verdict, the victim said, “He (Bajinder) is a psycho and will do the same offense after coming out of jail, so I want him to stay in prison. A lot of girls (victims) have won today. I request that DGP ensure our security since there is a possibility of attacks on us.”
The 42-year-old self-styled Pastor, who became popular as the “Mera Yeshu Yeshu prophet”, was lodged in the Patiala jail and was pronounced guilty on March 28 under sections 376 (rape), 323 (punishment for voluntary causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
The punishment was announced in a case filed against him in 2018 by a woman at the Zirakpur police station in Mohali. The complainant had alleged that Bajinder Singh lured her by promising to take her abroad. She accused him of raping her at his residence in Sector 63 in Mohali. She further alleged that he made a video of it and had threatened her to post the video on social media if she did not agree to his demands.
The victim’s husband, who fought the case for seven years, welcomed the court’s decision. “We struggled for seven years for this case. He (the convict) used to mislead the court and used to do foreign trips, while the court’s orders didn’t permit him to do so. Fake FIRs were filed on me, we were attacked, I spent six months in jail, and then I was determined to get him punished. We had faith in the judiciary. I want him to get severely punished. There were six accused; the case on five of them has been dismissed, and pastor Bajinder has been convicted. We welcome the court’s decision,” he said.
Advocate Anil Sagar, counsel for the victim, emphasised the need for exemplary punishment. “There is a punishment of 10-20 years for the offence of rape depending upon the circumstances of the case. In this case, I pray for the highest quantum because this person used to lure people in the name of religion. It is important to punish him exemplarily. I hope that after this, the girls who are facing such crimes will come forth and speak about the atrocities,” he said.
Notably, before the pronouncement of the verdict, tight security arrangements were made at the court complex to maintain the law and order situation.
What had happened in 2018
A case was registered against him based on a complaint filed by a woman at Zirakpur police station in 2018. In the complaint, she alleged that Bajinder Singh lured her by promising to take her abroad and raped her at his residence in Sector 63 in Mohali and made a video of it.
She further alleged that the accused had threatened to post the video on social media if she did not agree to his demands.
The incident reportedly took place after a prayer session, where Kaur claimed that she, along with others, was mistreated and physically assaulted.
Bajinder Singh also faces a probe in a sexual harassment case filed on February 28 filed by a 22-year-old woman, whose allegations he calls baseless. She claimed he started sending her inappropriate messages, summoned her alone to his cabin, and engaged in unwanted advances. Police have formed a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Superintendent of Police Rupinder Kaur, to probe the charges.
Earlier this month, the Mohali Police had booked the pastor for assault and other charges, days after a video of him purportedly arguing and slapping a woman went viral on social media. In the video, which appeared to be CCTV footage of a room, said to be dated February 14, Singh was seen arguing and throwing a bunch of papers at the woman, before slapping her.
Who Is Pastor Bajinder Singh?
A Haryanvi Jat, Bajinder Singh got converted to Christianity about a decade back while he was in jail in a murder case. He became a self-styled preacher in 2012, practising “miracle healing” and claiming to cure fatal diseases.
He runs The Church of Glory and Wisdom at Tajpur in Jalandhar, and another church at Majri in Mohali, but supporters claim his church has many branches in India and abroad.
On his YouTube channel “Prophet Bajinder Singh”, where his congregations are broadcast live, the preacher has garnered over 3.74 million subscribers.
History of Crimes
It is not the first time Bajinder Singh has been accused of numerous serious crimes including sexual abuse against women, child abuse, murder case, conversion activities, fake healing and financial frauds. Interestingly, Bajinder Singh himself admitted in one of his videos that he was jailed for a murder case at the age of 20. It was during his time in prison that he was introduced to Christianity. His influence extends far beyond Punjab, as on February 11, 2024, an illegal Christian conversion racket in Bharatpur, Rajasthan was busted where Bajinder Singh was identified as the mastermind.
His organisation has also received direct funding from an Italian Christian group, Labhana Ministry, which was offering Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh to individuals in exchange for converting to Christianity.
Another tragic instance was the death of a four-year-old girl, Tanisha, who was suffering from cancer. Her family, believing in Bajinder’s healing chants of “Mera Yeshu, Mera Yeshu,” refused medical treatment, ultimately leading to her death.
Despite his criminal past, Bajinder Singh enjoys strong Bollywood and political connections. Several Bollywood celebrities, including Arbaaz Khan, Rajpal Yadav, Chunky Pandey, Aditya Pancholi, Sunil Pal, Rakhi Sawant, Prem Chopra, Krushna Abhishek, and Jaya Prada, have attended his congregations, Christmas celebrations and openly supported him. Many politicians have also participated in his events, further legitimising his influence.
Other pastors accused of abusing women and minors
As many as 17 pastors have been punished by courts for abusing women and minors in India from 2016 to 2025. Interestingly, the maximum punishment was given to a pastor on 8 December 2016. A Special Court in Ernakulam district of Kerala sentenced Father Edwin Figueres, a Catholic priest of the Kottayam diocese, to double life imprisonment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after finding him guilty of raping a 14-year-old minor girl.
In 2023, Gujarat court sentenced a Christian pastor to 3 years imprisonment in a case related to forceful conversion. It is alleged that the pastor forced the 17-year-old minor girl and her family to convert to Christianity by blackmailing her to make her obscene photos viral.
In another case in 2022, a Christian padre sentenced to 18 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his minor students in Kerala.
