New Delhi:
Punjab’s self-styled Christian pastor Bajinder Singh, who is popularly known as ‘Yeshu Yeshu prophet’, was on Friday convicted in a 2018 rape case.
In 2018, the 42-year-old was arrested on charges of raping a woman from Punjab’s Zirakpur, after luring her on the pretext of offering assistance to travel abroad.
The quantum of sentence will be announced on April 1.
Six people have been acquitted in the case.
Singh is not new to controversies.
Recently, a video of Singh assaulting a man and a woman in his office surfaced on social media. In the clip, he is seen throwing objects and slapping people in his office. He first slaps the man repeatedly. He then starts arguing with the woman before throwing a book-like object at her and slapping her.
On February 28, the self-styled pastor was charged for allegedly sexually harassing a 22-year-old woman.
In her complaint, the woman alleged that she, along with her parents, started visiting Singh’s church in October 2017. The pastor took her mobile phone number and started sending text messages, she alleged, adding that she did not tell her parents about it as she was afraid of Singh.
From 2022, the pastor allegedly made her sit alone in a cabin in the church on Sundays. When she would be alone, the pastor would allegedly hug her and touch her inappropriately. The survivor also alleged that the pastor had threatened to get her and her family members eliminated if she got a complaint lodged against him.
In 2022, Singh was accused of taking money from a Delhi family for treating their daughter for her illness, but she could not be saved.
In 2023, the income-tax department raided his premises.
Born into a Jat family in Haryana, Singh says he converted to Christianity more than 10 years ago. He runs churches in Jalandhar and Mohali. He has a significant following on social media.
