By DPA,
Taipei : A Taiwan man arrested Thursday was accused of stealing a laptop computer from a church after asking to be baptised there.
The man, identified only by his surname Hong, went to a church Wednesday in Tainan city in southern Taiwan, asking to be baptised, cable television channel ETTV reported.
Hong said he was just released from jail and wanted to know God and turn a new page in his life.
The ministers welcomed and baptised him, but before leaving the church, Hong allegedly stole a notebook computer from the church, the report said.
Hong was arrested Thursday when he tried to sell the laptop.
Police accused Hong of also stealing a motorbike from another church and stealing from a dozen homes and offices near his home.
“I stole because I cannot find work, so God will forgive me,” police quoted Hong as saying.
Asked whether Hong would receive God’s pardon, a staff member of the church involved in Wednesday’s theft said: “We leave that to God”.