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How Dravidianist Media Covered Up Kanyakumari Pastor’s Assault On His Children For Playing With Hindu Neighbours

By
The Commune
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dravidianist media kanyakumari pastor

Just a week ago, a shocking case emerged from Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari district where Kingsley Gilbert (45), a Christian pastor, was arrested for violently beating his three children. He reportedly believed they were “possessed by Satan” after they had played with children from Hindu families in the neighborhood.

Despite the shocking religious motive behind the assault, Sun News, the unofficial mouthpiece of the ruling DMK and owned by the DMK’s first family, failed to report these key details. Instead, the outlet shared a watered-down version of events, simply labeling it as the arrest of a “father” for assaulting his 8-year-old son. Their news card described Gilbert only as a “priest” and omitted the religious context that had allegedly triggered the abuse.

Even within the news card merely stated, “Priest Kingsley was arrested for repeatedly assaulting his 8-year-old son with a skipping rope in the Karungal area of Kanyakumari district. A video has surfaced showing the injured boy, sitting with visible wounds, being comforted by children from a neighboring house who say, ‘We will take care of you, okay?’ has sparked stir. District child welfare officials rescued the boy, admitted him to a hospital for treatment, and filed a report with the police.”

The crucial detail that the pastor’s violent actions stemmed from religious intolerance toward his children playing with Hindu neighbors was completely omitted.

Another Dravidianist media, One India Tamil, followed a similar pattern by downplaying the incident. Their report merely quoted the pastor as saying, “I don’t like children going and playing with the neighbors,” omitting the crucial context that the neighbors were from a Hindu background.

Likewise, Daily Thanthi reported the incident in a similar tone, maintaining the same narrative while omitting a key detail that the pastor assaulted the children specifically because they had played with Hindu neighbors.

News18 Tamil Nadu went a step further in downplaying the incident during its primetime segment “Crime Time.” The channel aired the story under the mild headline: “Boy goes out to play… father hits him with skipping rope.” In the accompanying description, they summarized the incident as, “A father has been arrested by police for allegedly brutally attacking his son with a skipping rope after he went to play with the neighborhood boys in Kanyakumari district. Is it a crime for a schoolboy to go out and play?”

Notably, the report carefully omitted crucial facts including that the accused is a Christian pastor and failed to mention that the assault occurred because the children had played with Hindu neighbors, thereby sanitizing the communal and religious aspect of the case.

This selective reporting of Dravidianist media has raised serious concerns about media bias and the suppression of facts tied to religious identity in politically sensitive narratives.

However, the full account reveals a far more disturbing reality.

Kingsley Gilbert, who lives in a rented house in Pullathuvilai near Karungal with his wife Sajini, two sons (aged 8 and 6), and an 8-month-old daughter, is known for preaching at local churches. On 29 May, he reportedly became furious after finding his sons had gone to play with neighboring children who were Hindu. According to police, Gilbert dragged his sons inside and beat them severely using skipping ropes.

The neighborhood grew anxious over persistent screams echoing from Gilbert’s home in the dead of night. Despite repeated attempts to knock, no one answered. The District Child Protection Unit and Karungal police were alerted. Upon arrival, officers forced their way inside and uncovered a disturbing sight: the children were bound, with visible severe injuries and clear evidence of physical abuse. They were promptly rescued, and during preliminary questioning, the children allegedly disclosed that their father’s rage stemmed from their playing with Hindu children.

Further investigations revealed that Gilbert had a history of leaving his children locked indoors while he went to preach. On the day of the attack, the children had wandered out to play at a neighbor’s home. Enraged and allegedly convinced that “evil spirits” had taken over his children due to their interaction with Hindu kids, Gilbert carried out the assault in what he claimed was an act of exorcism. He has since been taken into custody, and the investigation is ongoing.

Kingsley has since been charged under Sections 296(b), 115(2), and 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), in addition to Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act. These provisions address obscene acts in public, voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation, and cruelty toward minors, respectively.

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