ICC Note: A Christian pastor in Nepal has been sentenced to ten years in prison on a rape accusation where the complainant admitted her accusation false and motivated by revenge. Many Christians in Nepal see this sentencing as a result of anti-Christian bias which they also claim is on the rise across the country.

08/29/2018 Nepal (Morning Star News) – Christians’ confidence in the judiciary in Nepal was shattered after a court sentenced a 63-year-old pastor to 10 years in prison on rape accusations the complainant later renounced, church leaders said.

Pastor Govinda Prasad Dhakal, 63, was sentenced on June 7 upon conviction for “frequently raping a minor” he and his wife had adopted in 2016. Christian leaders and his family roundly refute the allegation, citing an attempt by the alleged victim’s family to extort money from him with a false accusation.

“We are not happy to see the verdict, because everything was pre-decided,” Tanka Subedi, chair of the Religious Liberty Forum Nepal (RLFN), told Morning Star News.

The complainant, the now-12-year-old girl’s mother, confessed before the court that she had fabricated the rape story in a fit of anger over the pastor’s unwillingness to pay the girl’s school fees after he returned the child to her custody, a source present in the courtroom said. Authorities arrested Pastor Dhakal on Dec. 12, 2017, based on the mother’s initial statement.

Prabhushanta Dhakal, Pastor Dhakal’s younger son, was a witness to the courtroom proceedings. He said the mother expressed remorse, saying she never thought the pastor would end up in jail.

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