09-07-2009, 12:24 AM
Pastor arrested for raping inmate of church shelter
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->CHENNAI: A 60-year-old pastor, who is running a charitable trust in a village near Minjur in Tiruvallur district, 55 km from Chennai, was
arrested for raping a 20-year-old woman. The woman, an orphan, was staying in a shelter on the church premises. Police are inquiring into the probability of the pastor sexually abusing the children staying in the orphanage.
Police said inquiries had revealed that the pastor, Sadhu Immanuel, had sexually assaulted another 22-year-old woman staying in the same shelter and had taken her to a private hospital in Red Hills for abortion six months ago. âWhenever his family was away, Immanuel used to ask the girls to clean his house and then sexually assault them. He used to do this inside the church too. We have rescued eight girls and two boys from the home,â Tiruvallur superintendent of police MC Sarangan told TOI.
Immanuel has been running the Satyam Charitable Trust and a church at Vellur village for the past 25 years.
The crime came to light when Radhika (name changed), who left eight years ago after being abused, returned to the orphanage, where the inmates narrated their tales of horror. Even after leaving the orphanage, Radhika used to make regular visits to distribute food to the inmates. During her latest visit, two girls told her that Immanuel was abusing them for the past two years.
Radhika alerted an NGO, Just Trust, and approached a bi-weekly magazine, which did a sting operation. Following this, the district collector ordered an inspection of the home. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->CHENNAI: A 60-year-old pastor, who is running a charitable trust in a village near Minjur in Tiruvallur district, 55 km from Chennai, was
arrested for raping a 20-year-old woman. The woman, an orphan, was staying in a shelter on the church premises. Police are inquiring into the probability of the pastor sexually abusing the children staying in the orphanage.
Police said inquiries had revealed that the pastor, Sadhu Immanuel, had sexually assaulted another 22-year-old woman staying in the same shelter and had taken her to a private hospital in Red Hills for abortion six months ago. âWhenever his family was away, Immanuel used to ask the girls to clean his house and then sexually assault them. He used to do this inside the church too. We have rescued eight girls and two boys from the home,â Tiruvallur superintendent of police MC Sarangan told TOI.
Immanuel has been running the Satyam Charitable Trust and a church at Vellur village for the past 25 years.
The crime came to light when Radhika (name changed), who left eight years ago after being abused, returned to the orphanage, where the inmates narrated their tales of horror. Even after leaving the orphanage, Radhika used to make regular visits to distribute food to the inmates. During her latest visit, two girls told her that Immanuel was abusing them for the past two years.
Radhika alerted an NGO, Just Trust, and approached a bi-weekly magazine, which did a sting operation. Following this, the district collector ordered an inspection of the home. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->