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Pastor Simon Tandy, alias Rohit Ranjan, has been declared not guilty and acquitted of all charges by the Kanker sessions court today,September 12. It was uncertain if the magistrate would be able to deliver a fair veredict as inmense pressure has been exerted by the extremists to swing the case against him.The case was closed after the verdict was announced in Pastor Ranjan’s favor in the afternoon. Pastor Ranjan spent nine months and thirteen days in jail in Kanker, Chhattisgarh. He was released on bail on November 27, 2006.Pastor Ranjan’s innocence has been established before all people who stood to implicate him of false charges of rape and culpable homicide arising from a forced abortion. He is a free man after being brought to trial on false charges in June 2005. This time period of two years and three months has been full of tension and threats, and the case has suffered innumerable setbacks seemingly for the worse many times. Each visit to the session’s court was difficult because of the presence of hostile extremists who would intimidate not only the witnesses who were giving deposition before the magistrate, but also the judiciary officials involved in handling his case. Pastor Ranjan was threatened and ridiculed by extremists at every possible opportunity.Full of GratitudeAn Open Doors staff member was able to speak with Pastor Rohit Ranjan soon after the verdict was announced. Full of gratitude to the Lord for being free, he said, “All this would not have been possible without your support. You have been with me from the beginning until the very end. Even when others backed away and stopped loving me, you continued to believe in my innocence. It is the result of all the intercessory prayers for a fair trial offered before the Lord that today I am a free man. May God continue to bless you and use this ministry mightily.” Some in Open Doors India looked back to when they coordinated with various lawyers to figure out the best way to fight this case. For best results, Open Doors took care of legal fees for the lawyers from the main city of Raipur because lawyers in Kanker were too frightened to take up the case. Open Doors contacts in different states in India volunteered to help in various ways. Some provided shelter when it was required. Another contact helped exert pressure on the judiciary for an honest probe into the case.Pastor Ranjan was invited to a number of Standing Strong Through the Storm (SSTS) seminars so that not only he but others would be strengthened by hearing him share. Pastor Ranjan says the most memorable and beautiful gift that he will cherish all his life is that of the hundreds of letters and cards of encouragement sent in by Open Doors supporters worldwide. (Photo: Pastor Ranjan with some of the hundreds of letters and cards of encouragement he received.)As in the days of Noah....
