The absorption of stopped π − mesons by light nuclei with the emission of two nucleons (detected by coincidence) is investigated in terms of the direct absorption of a meson by correlated pairs of nucleons. A study is made of the effect of (1) the Pauli principle and interaction between the emitted nucleons in the final state, and (2) pairing correlation of nucleons in a nucleus on the distribution of the emitted nucleons over their relative energies. The question of how the shell or cluster structure of a nucleus may show up in this distribution function is also discussed. The comparison of the theoretical value of the probability ratio dW(π −+ np→ nn) dW(π −+ pp→ np) with its experimental value for the C 12 nucleus warrants the conc that the proton-proton correlation in a nucleus must be weaker than the neutron-proton correlation.