Pregnant Hindu woman raped by Christian pastor in Odisha under pretext of treatment of ailment

Case ID : 30a9e82 | Location : Kalahandi, Odisha, India | Date of Incident : Fri, 7 August, 2026

Case ID : 30a9e82

Kalahandi, Odisha, India

7 August, 2026

Pregnant Hindu woman raped by Christian pastor in Odisha under pretext of treatment of ailment

Undecided cases

Case Summary

An eight-month-pregnant Hindu woman was raped by pastor Jinesh Kumar at his residence in Kalahandi, Odisha, under the pretext of conducting a prayer session. According to the Hindu woman, she was suffering from a prolonged illness during her pregnancy and undergoing medical treatment on a doctor’s advice, but her condition did not improve. Jinesh Kumar, a pastor associated with a local church in Themra village, repeatedly contacted her husband and claimed that he could cure her illness through faith-healing prayers. Believing his assurances, the couple followed his instructions. They travelled to his residence and reached there on 7th August 2026. Kumar reportedly told them that they needed to stay at his residence for two to three days for the prayer and healing process. According to the statement given by the pregnant Hindu woman, on the night of 8th August 2026, Kumar gave alcohol to the woman’s husband after mixing medicine into it, after which he became intoxicated and fell unconscious. When the woman attempted to involve the pastor’s mother, Kumar refused, insisting that he would pray for the individuals one at a time. He then took the woman to a separate room under the pretext of conducting a special prayer session. There he restrained her hands and feet and raped her. The woman raised an alarm during the incident, but no one came to her assistance. After the assault, the woman informed her husband about what had happened after he regained consciousness. She also told him that Kumar had previously mixed medicine into his alcohol. Following the incident, Kumar threatened to kill the woman and her husband if they disclosed the incident and also physically assaulted them. The couple escaped from the pastor’s residence later that night and returned home. The incident was subsequently reported to the woman’s family, following which an official complaint was lodged at Bhawanipatna Sadar Police Station. Police registered the case, following which the woman underwent a medical examination as part of the investigation. Additional Superintendent of Police Tara Jasmine Guria confirmed that a case was registered based on the complaint of the eight-month-pregnant woman. SDPO Naresh Pradhan also confirmed that the accused pastor was absconding and that efforts were underway to locate and arrest him.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case is being added to the 'Undecided' database of the Hinduphobia Tracker due to a lack of a clear religious motive behind the immediate crime. In this case, an eight-month-pregnant Hindu woman was sexually assaulted by a Christian pastor after she and her husband approached him seeking relief from her illness through faith-healing prayers. The accused used the promise of prayer and healing to gain access to the woman before taking her to a separate room and assaulting her. The fact that the victim was Hindu and the accused was a pastor raised a question over whether her religious identity played any role in the crime. The circumstances surrounding the assault involved the accused presenting the prayer session as a means of treating the woman's illness. These circumstances indicated that the religious setting had been used to facilitate the assault. The fact that the assault took place during a prayer or faith-healing session raised suspicion that the religious setting may have been deliberately exploited. Kumar presented himself as someone capable of curing the woman's illness through Christian prayers, and the couple relied on those assurances before travelling to his residence. The exploitation of that trust therefore formed an important aspect of the case. The Hinduphobia Tracker applies strict parameters to classify crimes as hate crimes, requiring clear evidence of religious animosity as the primary motivator. Currently, because the case details do not indicate religious animosity as the driving force, it remains in the "Undecided" database. If new information confirms a religious motivation, it will be reassessed and moved to the tracker's hate crime database.