Medipally pastor held after churchgoer accuses him of rape

The pastor produced before the court and sent to judicial custody. The police found that he had been harassing her for a long time and had raped her on multiple occasions. The victim had approached the police on Saturday and lodged a complaint. Joseph's second wife had also lodged a complaint against him for harassing her and demanding additional dowry.

Joseph had lured the victim by promising marriage and had sexually exploited her against her will and consent. Whenever the victim broached the topic of marriage, he had made one excuse or the other. He had also hidden from her the fact that he was already married.

Medipally inspector B. Anji Reddy said the accused is a pastor at a church in Medipally and also conducts programmes in Aaradhana and Calvary channels. He got married in 2010 and has a daughter from that marriage. However, his first wife died of ill health and he married again in 2015 with whom he has a son.

However, due to disputes, the second wife has been staying with her parents for the past couple of years. Meanwhile, the victim who visited the church regularly got acquainted with the pastor. The accused started a new church in a rented room in Uppal where the victim was working as a telecaller.

The police said the accused used to take the victim to various places in the guise of conducting prayers. In January 2020, he lured the victim to accompany him to a programme and took her to the city outskirts near the Shamshabad area and raped her saying he would marry her. Later, the accused had sexual intercourse with the victim several times at his house.