Mysuru: Six persons including a Pastor of a Church have been booked for allegedly assaulting a Bishop.

The case has been registered at Mandi Mohalla Police Station based on the complaint by the Bishop. However, the persons who have been accused of assault have denied the allegations and have in turn accused the Bishop of falsely implicating them.

In his complaint filed at Mandi Station on Nov.17 at around 8.30 pm, Bishop of the Church of South India, Karnataka Southern Diocese, Mangaluru, Rev. Mohan Manoraj has alleged that he was entering the premises of Sawday Church at Tilak Nagar in city at about 11 am when a group of people led by Pastor  Rev. Osmond N. Siri abused and assaulted him and also pulled his Bishop’s Cross.

He has started that Rev. Osmond Siri had been recently transferred to Maddur Church and Rev. Victor was appointed in his place. The Bishop has stated that on that day, he, accompanied by Rev. Victor and others, tried to enter the Sawday Church through the main gate but it was found locked from inside. Rev. Osmond Siri, accompanied by Girish, Sudhakar, Samuel Sadan, Jnanashekaran and Noel Parker, had entered the Church and had locked the building from inside.

Locked gates

The Bishop stated that as the main gate was locked, he and his group tried to enter the Church from the rear entry, the group led by Rev. Osmond Siri stopped them, abused and allegedly assaulted them. He alleged that the Bishop’s Cross was pulled and a murder threat was issued.

Following the complaint, the Mandi Police have registered cases under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in common intention).

Allegations denied

Girish, Sudhakar, Samuel Sadan and Jnanashekaran, have, however, denied the allegation of assault and have accused the Bishop of creating a drama. “The Bishop and his group of bouncers have assaulted Noel Parker who is a senior citizen and we were pushed around for questioning the Bishop’s highhandedness,” they said.

Church renovation works

Speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, Girish, Samuel and Jnanashekaran said that the State Government had released Rs.30 lakh for the renovation of Sawday Church under a 2.5 crore project for churches in Mysuru.

“A Church Building Committee has been formed and Bishop Rev. Mohan Manoraj has put a condition that the contractors suggested by him must be given the contract. This is unacceptable and the Building Committee has already appointed a Class 1 contractor for the purpose. The Bishop’s demands are unreasonable and favours certain vested interests,” they said.

“Pastor Rev. Osmond Siri and the Church Building Committee that is authorised to take a decision of construction did not agree to the Bishop’s demands that violated the Committee rules and for this, he was transferred to Maddur and Rev. Victor has been appointed in his place. The Building Committee members and Church members are against the Bishop’s unreasonable demands and the Church has passed a resolution that Rev. Osmond Siri must be retained in Mysuru for one year,” they claimed.

Locks replaced

“Even we have approached the Police with complaints against the Bishop but our complaints have not been considered. The Bishop is exerting pressure on the Police and cases have been registered under duress, they claimed. They added that the Bishop moves around with a set of bouncers. They alleged that the Bishop came to city on Tuesday (Nov.13) and without informing the Church members and locked the Church. Following this, the members staged a protest. “The Bishop ordered the existing locks to be broken and replaced with the locks brought by him. Now they are creating a drama in front of the Police. We demand an impartial investigation into the case,” they said.