PANAJI
Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel, IAS, has dismissed the appeal filed before him by Pastor of ‘Five Pillars Church’ in Sodiem-Siolim Domnick D’Souza and his wife Joanne against the externment order issued against them by the North Goa collector.
The development may force the pastor-couple to knock the door of the High Court again to seek relief.
The duo had initially approached the High Court against the Collector’s externment order but were directed to approach the Chief Secretary first.
D’Souza and his wife Joanne have had multiple brushes with the law with several cases booked against them since 2009.
Three of these cases are related to attempts at religious conversion and another under the magic remedies act.
A Tamil Nadu native, currently residing in Curti-Ponda had complained to the Mapusa police accusing Domnic of attempted conversion and cheating.
Vadivel B, originally from Tamil Nadu, alleged that Domnic was proselytizing using black magic in his complaint with Mapusa Police. The pastor was arrested in this case in January this year but released on conditional bail by a Mapusa court.
Domnic also has a case booked against him under sections of the Black Magic Act.
Over the last couple of years, he has also faced two more criminal cases related to attempted religious conversion.
So far, a total of nine cases have been booked against the Pastor, seven of them at the Mapusa Police Station and two by the Crime Branch.
