Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent Perinthalmanna, Malappuram, Kerala, India · 2022

India: Pentecostal pastor convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl after convincing her family she was possessed by evil spirits

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Pentecostal pastor, itinerant deliverance ministry

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

Prakash's authority rested entirely on his claimed power to diagnose and cure spirit possession. That claim is what persuaded the family to trust him alone with their daughter, and the promised 'special prayers' are the exact pretext under which he assaulted her — the deliverance ritual was the operative means of the harm, not incidental to it.

Exorcism or deliverance
Prophecy or divine command

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2022-08-29 · trial and sentencing

Manjeri fast-track POCSO Special Court, Kerala. Pastor Jose Prakash, 51, of Balaramapuram near Thiruvananthapuram, was convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for the rape of a 13-year-old girl at Perinthalmanna, Malappuram, on 17-18 February 2016. The court found he had convinced the girl's parents at a Christian convention that she was possessed by evil spirits and could be exorcised only through his private 'special prayers,' then assaulted her when invited to their home to conduct them. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined.

Documented coercion mechanisms

false diagnosis of demonic possession used to obtain the family's consent for private 'special prayers'
exorcism/deliverance ritual used as pretext to isolate the minor victim

Primary record

Sources

national press sentencing report HinduPost, 'Christian Pastor sentenced to life for raping a minor' (2022).: Reports the Manjeri fast-track POCSO court's conviction and life sentence of Pastor Jose Prakash on 29 August 2022 for raping a 13-year-old girl in Perinthalmanna, Malappuram, after he told her parents at a Christian convention that she was possessed by demonic spirits and needed his 'special prayers'; states the assault occurred on 17-18 February 2016 and disclosure followed after her mother found her leaving his room at night.
national press roundup report Organiser, 'Predatory Evangelical Network in Kerala: 23 cases in 10 years' (12 Jul. 2026).: Independently confirms the Manjeri fast-track POCSO court sentenced Pentecostal pastor Jose Prakash to life imprisonment plus a Rs 2,50,000 fine on 29 August 2022 for raping a 13-year-old after falsely diagnosing her as possessed by evil spirits, within a wider survey of Kerala clergy-abuse convictions.

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