A pastor and his wife have been arrested in Chennai for sexually abusing and aiding the act respectively. The pastor is a Srilankan national and has been living in Chennai illegally for many years. The pastor sexually harassed many young women and children who attended his church. He was arrested after a 16 year old girl’s grandmother filed a complaint.

Sherrard Manohar (58), a Pentecostal pastor runs a church named Apostle Christ Assembly (ACA)- Jesus Miracles Ministries in Chennai along with his wife Helen. A 16 year old girl’s grandmother has filed a complaint against the pastor and his wife for sexually abusing the girl and aiding her husband respectively. Police found in their investigation that the pastor has been abusing the girl for the past six months both through direct contact and through lewd Whatsapp messages and calls.

Police found that he had sent his nude photos to the girl and sexually harassed the girl through messages. In one his messages he said, “Hugging and kissing are not wrong”. He had deleted the messages he sent to the girls after the issue came out. Police recovered them and found the girl’s allegations to be true.

His wife aided him by hiding and defending his sexual crimes. She forced the girl say that the pastor is a good person and he didn’t abuse her. She recorded it as a video and used it to convince others that the allegations were false. Police say that the pastor abused many women and children attending his church but they haven’t come forward to file complaints against him. Now both the pastor and his wife have been booked under the POCSO Act and arrested. Further probe revealed that Pastor Sherrard Manohar is a Srilankan national illegally staying in Bharat.

He arrived from Srilanka, married Helen, a relative and a Bharatiya citizen, and settled in Chennai, media reports say.

The Facebook page of ACA Jesus Miracles Ministries says that it was founded in 2007 by Sherrard Manohar and Helen. While media reports say that the couple have been residing in Bharat for the ‘past few years’, it appears that they have been illegally living in the country along with their two sons for nearly 15 years considering they established the church in 2007 itself. The government machinery has failed on many accounts with regard to this incident.