A Chennai based pastor has been arrested for sexually harassing a woman laity in his church. Pastor Scott David, 53, runs New Life Jesus Mission church in Avadi, Chennai. The victim woman Angeline, 48 is said to have come across him 6 months ago and told him about her problems and family issues as she started meeting him frequently.
It is said that the pastor frequently goes to the houses of his acquaintances and church goers to pray there. In the same manner he is said to have gone to Angeline’s house as well to pray for her well-being. He is also said to have asked her to visit his church to pray there to solve her problems. Heeding this advice Angeline went to the church and as she was praying pastor Scott David hugged her from behind and kissed her.
Shocked by this behaviour Angeline started shouting for help and ran out of the church. She then went to the local police station and filed a complaint on the pastor based on which he has been arrested. Pastor Scott David allegedly conducts some special prayer sessions to drive out ghosts and evil spirits through which Angeline is said to have come in contact with the pastor.
Local media has reported that many women come to such ‘prayer’ sessions to share their personal issues with the pastor, for him to pray and find a solution. How many other women could have been prey to his lust and kept mum fearing his influence and societal backlash is a dark secret. Such incidents of Christian priests taking advantage of emotionally and economically disturbed women to satiate their sexual needs is continuously on the rise. In this case even the pastor, Scott David being a Pentecost and thus having a wife and children, didn’t stop him from intruding and disturbing another woman’s life.
One might recall the issue of a woman employee in Loyola College, Chennai run by Jesuit fathers, sexually harassed by a catholic priest who occupied a position in the administration, which is pending in the court. Neither the priests in the college nor the Vatican even acknowledged this issue for a longtime. But they were quick to extend support to Urban Naxal Stan Swamy and even condemned the court for not granting him bail. The denominations may be different but the Christian leadership and priests behave the same way towards women, treating them as an object for possession and exploitation.
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