A pastor imprisoned for over three months in Nepal for saying prayers can heal the novel coronavirus was released after paying a hefty bail this month.
Pastor Keshab Raj Acharya was first arrested on the 23rd of March on charges of spreading false information for saying prayers can heal COVID-19. The pastor was taken into custody from his home in Pokhara, Gandaki Pradesh Province after a video appeared on social media of him rebuking the coronavirus as he preached at his church.
Though he was released on the 8th of April, he was arrested again moments later on charges of “outraging religious feelings” and “proselytising.” After more than three months in prison, he was released on the 3rd of July after paying bail equal to about $2,500, Morning Star News reports.
“It was very difficult for me,” Pastor Acharya said. “I would think of my little children and my wife, and I would cry out to the Lord in prayer. I would look up at Him in hope that if it is in His will that I should be put through this, He would get me out of this.”
Acharya told the outlet he believes government officials and police worked together against him. “They were laying a thorough plan to make sure I would stay in jail for a longer period.”
The Nepal police website states that Kaski police officers arrested Acharya for misleading the public by posting false information on social media about the novel coronavirus. Police cited a YouTube video showing him calling the coronavirus an evil spirit and rebuking it in the name of Christ.
According to the Himalayan Times, the pastor allegedly said in the video that COVID-19 could do nothing to followers of Jesus Christ and told them the virus “could not even touch the followers of Jesus.”
Persecution against Christians worsened in 2017 when the Nepalese parliament passed legislation banning religious conversions and “the hurting of religious feelings.” Last year, four Christians were arrested in Nepal, including a United States citizen, months after the law criminalising religious conversion went into effect.
Source: christianpost.com
Image: licas.news
