Pastor John Jebaraj Arrested In Kerala For Allegedly Assaulting Minors; Under POCSO Act

Pastor John Jebaraj of the Kings Generation Church in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, was arrested in Munnar, Kerala, on suspicion of sexually abusing two children. After months of eluding capture, the 37-year-old pastor, who has a sizable social media following, was arrested Thursday night by the Central All Women Police Station from Coimbatore.

Jebaraj was remanded to judicial custody after appearing in court on Friday. To stop him from leaving the country, the Coimbatore City Police issued a lookout notice and sent out several teams to track him down.

Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act that deal with aggravated sexual assault are allegedly invoked in the charges against him.

Jebaraj is accused of assaulting the children at a party that was hosted at his Coimbatore home in May of last year. A formal complaint has been filed with the Central All Women Police Station after one of the victims recently told a relative about the incident.

The arrest comes just days after another pastor, Bajinder Singh from Punjab, was sentenced to life in prison for rape in a separate 2018 case. In that incident, the survivor alleged Singh lured her with promises of taking her abroad, then raped her at his Mohali residence. He reportedly recorded the act and threatened to share the footage online.

John Jebaraj had recently approached the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail. In his plea, he denied the allegations and claimed they were motivated by his estranged wife, with whom he is currently involved in divorce proceedings.

"One young girl has complained about the abuse to the child welfare committee," said a senior police official. We are looking into it.