HYDERABAD, India — A Christian pastor was arrested by Nepali police after an internet video showed him rebuking COVID-19 in the name of Jesus Christ.
Authorities claimed those comments about COVID-19 were misleading. They arrested Pastor Keshab Acharya, 32, on March 23 after a YouTube video of Acharya’s comments was posted. He had been using YouTube as a ministry platform since 2015.
Following the posting, the pastor received a call from a person asking for prayer. The pastor agreed to let the person come to his home in Pokhara, in Nepal’s Gandaki Pradesh Province. Instead, four members of the police force arrived and took him into custody.
On the YouTube video, the pastor not only tells the virus to die, but he also rebukes it in the name of Jesus.
Nepal is mostly Hindu, and 16% of the population is Buddhist.
Nepal ranks No. 32 on Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. (MS)
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