Pujari exploited minor – Case registered under POCSO Act: From Asaram to Kathua, the anger of the countrymen erupted over the misdeeds of the religious leaders

A church priest in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore has been arrested for sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl. The offender has been detained under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO).

The criminal’s name is Stephen Raj. Stephen had given his one house on rent in Coimbatore. In which two minor girls live with their grandmother. This house is located in the neighbourhood, so the priest used to visit there frequently.

According to the police, as soon as the girls’ grandmother came out of the house in connection with work. Taking a chance, Stephen entered the house and tried to sexually assault a 17-year-old minor. As soon as the girl tried to save herself by making noise, the criminal Stephen immediately ran away.

After the incident, the minor’s grandmother lodged a complaint with the police. Taking action, the police arrested the criminal by registering a case against the criminal Stephen Raj under the section of POCSO Act. Further investigation is being done in this matter.

Incidents of continuing sexual abuse
A similar incident was witnessed in Kerala last week as well. Sebastian Keizeth, pastor of Adakathodu Church in Mananthavady area of ​​Kerala’s Ernakulam, shared a shoddy video on a WhatsApp group of Catholic nuns and women. After sharing the video, the women of the group protested against it. Now there is a demand to remove the priest from his post.

Last year in Kerala, a priest of Pathanamthitta Church sexually assaulted a minor girl who had come to pray in the church. Police investigated the matter and arrested the priest of Coodle Orthodox Church, Pondson John, under the POCSO Act.

Asaram has more than 400 ashrams in the country and abroad.

Humanity has been ashamed of the deeds of these religious gurus of the country

2013 Asaram Bapu, a well-known saint, was accused of raping a minor girl in the ashram in August 2013. Asaram, 81, is currently serving a life sentence in Jodhpur jail. He was sentenced for the rape of a minor, but even before this Asaram had adopted many tactics to avoid punishment.

2018 On 10 January 2018, an 8-year-old girl was kidnapped and kept locked in a dark room of the temple for 6 days in Kathua city of Jammu. The priest of the temple was the mastermind of this incident. She was raped by 4 people for 6 days by giving the girl intoxicant pills. After this, the girl was strangled to death. He hit her on the head with a stone and threw the body in the forest. This incident created a ruckus in the entire country. Later, a provision of capital punishment for rapist was included for raping a girl below 12 years of age.

Demonstrations were held across the country to get justice for the girl child.

2021 On August 1, 2021, a case of raping and killing a 9-year-old girl came to light in Delhi Cantt area. The girl had gone to fetch water from a water cooler installed in the crematorium in the evening, where four people, including a temple priest, plucked the little life and shamed humanity by giving her a painful death. The girl had reached near the temple in search of water to quench her thirst in the scorching heat. After this incident, the issue of safety of girls in the country had heated up.