PATHANAMTHITTA (INDIA)
Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) [Hong Kong]
June 23, 2026
By UCA News reporter
Pastor claims the facility came under pressure for its welfare activities for the poor people
Police in southern Indian Kerala state have launched a probe into a neo-Christian group after three employees linked to it were accused of child abuse, including physical assault.
The probe was initiated after a 17-year-old boy working in a facility under Elohim Global Worship Center in Pathanamthitta district filed a police complaint on June 18.
The boy from the state’s Idukki district alleged that he and other children at the facility, a hostel for poor children called Snehathanal (Shade of Love), were subjected to physical assault and forced labor.
He claimed that he was promised education and employment support when he joined the center months ago, but he was abused mentally and physically.
The district Child Welfare Committee chairperson, Leena Subash, said the committee rescued three children from the center, and two of them have been moved to their native districts.
Subash told local media that a woman in her mid-thirties and her infant daughter, who were also rescued from the institution, are currently in the care of authorities in Pathanamthitta.
“We are also trying to locate another woman and her infant child who had been residing at the center until recently,” she added.
She added that the facility was shut down by police before the committee reached out for investigation, denying the committee an opportunity to speak to the inmates.
Local reports said the police have not named the head of the Church group, Pastor Binu Vazhamuttom, as an accused.
Vazhamuttom, in a June 21 statement, said he was unaware of the allegations and that they should be investigated. If the crime is proved, it should be punished, he said.
He said his Church groups have been the target of local leaders of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after the group’s activities earned it popularity in the area.
“This year too our Church has given educational help to 3,000 children,” he said, alleging that BJP activists stormed the facility demanding his arrest.
The unrest prompted the deployment of police in the center.
A Church member who sought anonymity said the case is a fabrication “to target the pastor who is doing a wonderful job assisting thousands of poor children to get an education and the elderly who are in need of help.”
We are sure his innocence will be vindicated in the probe,” he told UCA News on June 23.