Police have booked a 42-year-old self-styled preacher and pastor in Kapurthala on charges of sexual harassment and stalking, police said on Sunday, adding that the accused is yet to be arrested.
Police said the accused, identified as Bajinder Singh, runs the Church of Glory and Wisdom in Tajpur village of Jalandhar district. According to a complaint filed by a 22-year-old woman on February 28, the pastor allegedly sent inappropriate messages and touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions since 2020.
Based on the complaint, Kapurthala city police said that they have filed a first information report (FIR) against Bajinder Singh on February 28 under sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“We are cross-checking and verifying the allegations levelled by the woman,” Kapurthala City police station house officer (SHO) Bikramjit Singh said, adding that the accused is yet to be arrested.
“The arrest will be made on the basis of evidence which will come to the fore during the course of the investigation,” the SHO added.
In the complaint, the woman alleged that she and her parents have been visiting the Church of Glory and Wisdom since 2017. She further said that she was part of the self-styled preacher’s worship team from 2020 to 2022. During this period, the accused allegedly took her phone number and began contacting her.
{{/usCountry}}In the complaint, the woman alleged that she and her parents have been visiting the Church of Glory and Wisdom since 2017. She further said that she was part of the self-styled preacher’s worship team from 2020 to 2022. During this period, the accused allegedly took her phone number and began contacting her.
{{/usCountry}}“While talking to me over the phone, the accused used to have unwanted and vulgar conversations, to which I always objected,” the woman said in her complaint. “In 2022, I attended his congregations on Sunday, where he used to touch me inappropriately when I was alone in his cabin.” The complainant also alleged that the accused followed her while she was on her way to college.
She also alleged that the accused threatened her with dire consequences if she narrated these conversations and incidents to anyone.
The pastor’s supporters on Sunday blocked Nakodar-Jalandhar village near Lambhra, demanding a detailed investigation into the matter.
“The FIR has been registered as a part of a conspiracy against pastor Bajinder Singh. The victim, who is levelling allegations, has not visited the church for the past three years,” said Avtar Singh, one of the close associates of the Church of Glory and Wisdom.
Controversial past
Bajinder originally hails from Haryana and is now residing in New Chandigarh. He adopted Christianity and became a self-styled preacher in 2012, practising ‘miracle healing’ and claiming to cure fatal diseases, paralysis and other ailments through prayers at his congregations.
Police said that Singh was previously accused of rape in 2022 by a woman in Zirakpur, however, he was acquitted in the case after the charges against him could not be proved in court.
In 2022, another controversy broke out in September last year when a Delhi family alleged that Bajinder had taken money from them for treating their daughter, who was suffering from cancer through prayers but failed. He has gained popularity over the years and has nearly 3 million followers on social media, besides having centres overseas. In February 2023, the income tax sleuths raided his New Chandigarh residence and the church.