Bengaluru Bishop Booked After Dalit Woman Says He Molested Her, Attempts Suicide

Bengaluru: A case has been registered against a bishop and pastor in Bengaluru after a Dalit woman attempted suicide following alleged molestation and threats from the duo.

The FIR was filed against bishop PK Samuel of Church of South India, Karnataka Central Diocese, and pastor Vinod Dasan for criminal intimidation and outraging the modesty of the woman among other charges.

Speaking to CNN News18, Bishop Samuel denied the charges and said Vinod Dasan was not a pastor as stated in the FIR.

According to the complaint, Dasan asked the woman to withdraw a case against him from 2013 which, the police said, was registered for atrocities against members of the SC/ST community.

He then asked her and her husband to come near the Trinity Church in Halasuru on January 21. While the woman’s husband was busy talking to the pastor, the bishop allegedly took her outside the compound, promised her Rs 1 crore and a job to withdraw the case.

When she refused, he outraged her modesty and threatened to kill her if she told this to her husband, she told the police in her complaint. On January 31 around 1am, the woman allegedly attempted suicide by consuming pesticide.

The case registered in Ulsoor police station limits is being investigated, said a police officer.

The bishop, however, said he did not even know the woman. "On 21 January, as they allege that the incident happened, they did not come to my house at all. When I don't know them where is the point of me talking to them or negotiating or anything for that matter," he said.

Samuel said his house is in the Trinity Church and though there is a pastor in the Trinity, his name is different.

“I do not know why they have used that fellow's (Vinod Dasan) name as a pastor. That itself is a concocted story. He (Vinod) is not a pastor. Please don't misunderstand. He is a member of St Peter's church, Cox town. Nothing to do with Trinity Church," he said.

The bishop also said he would take legal action against the complainant. “Let the law take its own course. Let police inquire. Then I will take legal recourse against the woman. People are using her to malign my name," he added.

Samuel is also an accused in a POCSO case for which the court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him in April 2018. However, no arrest has been made so far.