A Maulana in Gujarat’s Junagadh district who was appointed to teach Urdu has been arrested for committing unnatural sexual acts with at least ten underage students.
According to a report by Hindu Post, the teacher who is aged 25 took advantage of his position and sexually abused children at the residential school/madrasa where he taught.
Following a complaint by a 17-year-old boy, the Mangrol police filed a First Information Report (FIR) on Sunday against both suspects, charging them under sections 377 (unnatural intercourse), 323 (assault), 506-2 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
Havas Ka Maulana !
— Ashwini Shrivastava (@AshwiniSahaya) October 26, 2023
An Islamic cleric (Maulana), 25-yr-old madrasa teacher arrested for unnatural r*pe with atleast 10 minor students, in Junagadh, Gujarat
He was the Urdu teacher at the Madrasa, students used to attend the Madrasa for religious teachings and he r*ped the… pic.twitter.com/I9W0BacMHK
Additionally, the 55-year-old trustee of the madrasa has also been apprehended for ignoring the students’ complaints about the teacher’s behavior, as confirmed by a statement from Junagadh Police on Monday, 23 October 2023. The teacher who had managed to escape was found hiding in Surat and taken into custody, while the madrasa trustee, was detained in Junagadh.
The incident came to light when a student from the residential school, located on the Mangrol-Veraval bypass, used a teacher’s mobile phone to contact his mother and report the inappropriate actions of the Maulana with the students. Subsequently, the woman contacted the police and filed a complaint, alleging that the madrasa teacher had sexually assaulted students living and studying in the school.
On October 21, the police visited the madrasa premises and, with the help of some Muslim leaders, gained the trust of the students. Ten boys studying at the madrasa revealed that they had been subjected to these acts by the Maulana, who had also threatened to harm them if they reported the incidents to their parents.
Furthermore, the students stated that when they approached the madrasa’s trustee to file a complaint, he took no action in response. As the trustee realized that a case would be filed against the teacher, he assisted the teacher in fleeing the area.
Junagadh’s Superintendent of Police, Harshad Mehta, visited the madrasa as part of the investigation and assured the parents of the students that the police would conduct a fair and impartial inquiry into the matter.
The pattern of reporting sexual abuse of children in Madrasas by Muslim teachers is now regularly seeing the light of day. Previously attempts were made to hide such instances of abuse to keep the good name of Madrasas. However, there are monthly reports of 10-15 such distressing cases emerging from various Madarsas across the country, involving clerics engaging in the sexual exploitation of underage children.
But the fact is, the number of officially reported cases to the police could be much lower as many many individuals, families, and members of Muslim society refrain or restrain from filing complaints due to fear and the associated social stigma attached to such incidents.
(With inputs from Hindu Post)
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