Pastor in Andhra Pradesh arrested for sexually exploiting around 17 women

The police registered cases against a 42-yr-old pastor for allegedly sexual exploiting about 17 women, in the past four years, in Payakaraopeta, Vishakapatnam. The case came to light after a woman, who was under his clutches, escaped and came directly to the Police to file a complaint, on Thursday night.

According to the Police, the pastor A Anil Kumar alias Prem Das, hailing from Vijayawada, come to Payakaraopeta in 2017. In 2018, he set up a trust called ‘Prema Swaroopi Ministries’ and lured these 17 women from various places. He brought them to the Trust’s premises, on the grounds of giving them spiritual discourses.

Since then, these women have allegedly been sexually exploited by the pastor. The complainant also said that the victims were threatened against leaving the premises, as he said that their respective families would face dire consequences. She also said that apart from the 17 women, the pastor also held 7 boys in the trust, who were kept there forcibly, and worked as slaves, even tortured by him.

The Payakaraopeta police then questioned the victims in the Trust, but apparently they were in some kind of trance, that they couldn’t open up fully to the Police. The police then opined that the women were maybe scared because of the Pastor and his doings. It was also found that the Pastor had already earned a lot of money in the name of spirituality and God.

Additional SP, Narsipatnam, D Manikanta inspected the trust and said that the police were enquiring about the facts. The Payakaraopeta Police have registered cases under relevant sections. The complainant was sent to Anakapalle hospital for medical tests. No arrests were made in the case till Friday evening.

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