COIMBATORE: A special team of city police on Saturday nabbed pastor D John Jebaraj, 37, from his hideout in Munnar, a hill retreat in Kerala, for sexually assaulting two minor girls at his residence a year ago.
The pastor, who was running King Generation Prayer Hall on Cross Cut Road in the city, has done several Christian concerts across India.
According to the Central all-woman police in the city, the pastor sexually assaulted two girls aged 17 and 14 years at a party that he hosted at his residence in GN Mills area in the city on May 21, 2024. However, the incident did not come to light for the past 11 months.
“Earlier this month, one of the girls told her family members about the incident and they approached us. We received a complaint from the girl on April 5 and registered a case against the pastor under sections 9 (l) (m) (aggravated sexual assault) and 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act,” a police officer attached to the Central all-woman police said.
The officer said the pastor had not indulged in a penetrative sexual assault against the two minor girls.
The pastor, meanwhile, went into hiding, forcing the city police commissioner to form three special teams to trace and nab him. One of the teams was dispatched to Tenkasi district, another one to Bengaluru in Karnataka state and the remaining one to Munnar in Kerala state in search of the pastor. The city police also issued a lookout notice against him at all airports and ports, to prevent him from escaping abroad.
“A special team led by inspector Arjun Kumar traced the pastor’s whereabouts in Munnar and arrested him on Saturday evening. He was brought to the all-woman police station at Kattoor in the early hours of Sunday,” the officer said.
Police inspector Renuga arrested the pastor and recorded his statement. He was produced before the Pocso special court judge (incharge), R Nandhinidevi, on Sunday morning. The judge remanded him in judicial custody. The pastor was subsequently lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison.