Mohali: A special court in Mohali Friday convicted controversial Christian preacher Bajinder Singh, popularly known as Papa Pastor, in a 2018 rape case.The sentence will be pronounced on April 1. The judge found the pastor guilty under IPC sections 376 (rape), 323 (punishment for voluntary causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation), leading to his immediate custody and transfer to Patiala jail. The court acquitted five others for lack of evidence, while one accused died during trial.
The case was filed based on a woman’s complaint at Zirakpur police station. The survivor said she first met the pastor, who claimed to heal illnesses through miracles, at a roadside eatery, and began attending his prayer meetings and gradually started following his instructions. In Sept 2017, he called her to a roadside eatery in Zirakpur with her passport. He took her to his flat, where he raped her under the pretext of facilitating her travel abroad, and recorded a video. Subsequently, he demanded money for the trip, and threatened to leak the video if she failed to comply.
