Pastor Detained in Connection with Death of Church Member’s Son
By James Varghese
3/6/08 KARNATAKA, INDIA (ANS) — A pastor and his wife were detained for questioning concerning the death of a church member’s son.
The web site www.persecution.in reported that the incident occurred in Bangalore on March 7.
According to the story reported by www.persecution.in, Pastor Jinu Joseph, 33, was about to visit a bereaved family in his church whose son had been killed. The man had been murdered for unknown reasons and the assailant is still at large.
The web site reported that when Joseph and his wife Blessy reached the family’s house they were picked up by the police. Joseph had been mentioned to the police as a possible suspect in the case.
According to the web site, when a representative from the Global Council of Indian Christian (GCIC) contacted the police station, he was told that the pastor was being held for questioning because the deceased’s mother is a believer and attends Joseph’s Siloam Full Gospel Church in Banshankari, Bangalore.
The story on the web site reported that the deceased’s mother has been a believer for nine years, but that her husband and her late son had no problem with her faith.
GCIC’s Mr. Reji told ANS that the pastor and his wife were released yesterday after a request was made by GCIC. The police asked them to return to the police station on March 8.
This is not the first run in that Joseph has had with authorities. According to www.persecution.in, about six months ago radical Hindus attacked him and filed a charge of forced conversion.
