John Jebaraj - a pastor of Kings Generational Church in Coimbatore - popular for his Christian concerts - was arrested on Saturday by a special team of the Coimbatore City Police for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls.
The two girls - aged 17 and 14 - were at a party that Jebaraj threw at his residence in GN Mills in Coimbatore on May 21, 2024.
11 months after the incident, one of the victims filed a complaint last week with All Women Police Station, Coimbatore central, post which Jebaraj was booked 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.
Jebarab was absconding for a week and was finally arrested in Munnar on Saturday. He will soon be produced before the POCSO special court judge R Nandhinidevi.
How did the police find Jebaraj?
City Police Commissioner A. Saravana Sundar formed three special teams under Assistant Commissioner of Police T.H. Ganesh, The Hindu reported, adding that the police had issued lookout notices against him to stop him from fleeing India.
Late on Saturday evening, a special team headed by inspector R. Arjun Kumar went to Munnar after receiving reliable information that Jebaraj was hiding in the neighbouring state of Kerala.
He was arrested and brought back to Coimbatore where he was presented before a judge and was sent to judicial custody till April 25.
Police sources said that this is not a case of penetrative sexual assault, Times of India reported.
‘Yeshu Yeshu prophet’ found guilty
Last month, Christian pastor, Bajinder Singh - famously known as ‘Yeshu Yeshu prophet’ was found guilty in a 2018 sexual harassment case. He was arrested in 2018 from Indira Gandhi International Airport while he was attempting to flee to London after a woman from Punjab's Zirakpur had accused Singh of sexual harassment.
