There has been a disturbing increase in the incidents of sexual assault and sexual exploitation of minors in religious institutions, including madrasas.
Several Imams and maulvis under the guise of imparting ‘knowledge’ to the minors, abuse them sexually and sometimes the sexual exploitation is long-term, to the point of ‘normalisation’ in that particular institution. It often perpetuates a vicious cycle where the abused may grow up to abuse others in turn.
Sexual abuse of children in religious organizations like Madarsas and Mosques is one of the least publicized subjects, largely due to the triple taboo involved (sex, minors, and religion). However, several such cases have been reported recently by OpIndia and other media houses, showcasing the need for action in favor of justice for the victims. Here is the list of such cases reported from across India that happened in the last 15 days.
Maulana Md Mahir (32) repeatedly rapes a minor, 6 students in Ajmer murder him
The Ajmer police arrested six minor madrasa students on Sunday (12th May) for allegedly murdering Mohammadi Masjid’s imam, Maulana Mohammad Mahir (32), on April 27 in Ajmer, Rajasthan. As per the reports, all the students from Madarsa had been narrating a different story about the murder. The students claimed that three masked men arrived in the Madarsa, killed Mohammed Mahir, and threatened them to be quiet.
Later, the police discovered that six students of Madarsa had murdered the Maulvi for repeatedly raping a minor. “One of the students of the madrasa was sexually abused by Mahir who belonged to the Rampur village of Shahbad, Uttar Pradesh. When the child threatened to reveal everything, Mahir lured him with money. Disturbed by his regular harassment, students decided to murder Mahir. They beat him severely with a stick and strangulated him to death with a rope,” the police said.
As per the reports, two days before the murder, Mahir had returned from his village in Uttar Pradesh. On 26th April, the students purchased sleeping drugs from a medical shop and offered him curd and tablets. After a while, Maulana fell asleep. Students went to the storeroom and retrieved a stick and rope. They hit his head with the stick while he was sleeping. He attempted to stand up, but they wrapped the rope around his neck and strangled him.
The incident came to the fore only after Toshif Ashraf of the Madarsa filed a police complaint.
Madarsa teacher sexually assaults 7-year-old girl in UP Gorakhpur’s Madarsa
On 8th May, the media reported that a 7-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a Madarsa teacher. The girl, a resident of Tiwaripur region of UP’s Gorakhpur, had gone to the place of Madarsa teacher who stayed in her neighborhood. She along with many other girls used to go to his place to learn Urdu and Arabi. However, on the day when the incident happened, she was all alone in the class.
The accused Maulvi then seeing the girl alone, tried to sexually assault her. However, one of the neighborhood women saw this happening and immediately informed the parents of the victim. The mother of the girl arrived at the spot and saved her daughter. Based on the complaint filed by the father of the girl, the police arrested the accused and began investigations into the case.
19-year-old girl raped in Masjid in Rajasthan’s Pali
On 5th May, an incident of rape in Masjid had come to the fore from Rajasthan’s Pali district. A 19-year-old girl was called to the Masjid by the Maulvi saying that he had some job for her. However, he dragged her to a room in Masjid and brutally raped her.
The parents of the girl who stayed in the same locality began looking for her as she failed to return home late at night. Later, they discovered the girl locked in a room with the Maulvi in the Masjid. The parents then filed a police complaint in the case demanding strict action against the accused.
It had come to the fore that the accused had threatened the girl saying that if she told about the incident to anyone, she would be killed. However, the accused was caught by the police, and action was initiated.
Women raped by Chadar seller at Bade Sarkar dargah in Badaun district
A woman who had come to seek ‘treatment’ through exorcism at Bade Sarkar Dargah of Sadar Kotwali in Badaun district, has filed a case against a chadar seller and faith healer at the Dargah, accusing him of rape and making obscene videos.
The victim, a resident of the Bijnor district, who had come here for ‘treatment’ of mental diseases through exorcism was dragged to a room by Mohammed Rahat in the name of treatment. He then raped the woman in the room and also made a video of the same.
The woman who made the allegation says that Rahat used to take her to his room every day in the name of treatment and rape her. In this connection, a case has been registered against the accused Maulvi Rahat and an investigation is being done.
Maulvi Jabbar arrested for raping a girl for 2 years in UP’s Ghaziabad
On 12th May, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested one Maulvi identified as Jabbar after he raped a girl for around 2 years in Ghaziabad. The accused also recorded a derogatory video of the incident and threatened the girl to make it viral. The incident, however, came to the fore after the video of the incident was made viral over the internet.
As per the media reports, the victim was a student of the accused and used to go to his place to learn Urdu and Arabi. The accused two years ago caught the girl alone and raped her brutally. He also filmed the incident and used the video to blackmail the girl. He kept on threatening the girl and raping her for two years.
The incident came to the fore after the video of the girl went viral in the village. Later her parents came to know about the incident and filed a complaint against the Maulvi. “Based on the complaint, we have registered an FIR against Zabbar under IPC sections 376 (rape), 328 (intoxicating with intent to commit crime) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and he has been arrested. The police are also trying to find out whether the accused himself shared this video on social media or someone else had uploaded it,” the police said.
According to the reports, the police said that the accused Jabbar was a resident of Sardhana area in Meerut and currently was living in the Loni area of Ghaziabad. A few days after this incident, Jabbar left the mosque and fled from the spot. Police later arrested the accused and found a clip of rape of the girl from the accused’s mobile phone.
Police also said that the mobile phone of the Maulvi had been confiscated and the medical examination of the victim was conducted.
Maharashtra: Aqdas Chandu rapes, tortures a 12-year-old girl in Kalyan Mosque, arrested
Another incident of a young girl being raped in a mosque in the Kalyan district, a satellite town of Mumbai, the state capital of Maharashtra, emerged on 6th May 2024. As per the reports, the rape happened in the mosque when the victim entered the Mosque premise to drink water. The accused person was identified as Aqdas Chandu who has been taken into custody by the police.
The incident happened in the Kalyan area of the Bazarpeth police station. The victim 12-year-old girl who resides in the locality, had gone to some store to purchase a cake. While on the move, she stopped at a local mosque to get some water because she was thirsty. It is then that the nearby fruit seller accused Aqdas Chandu entered the Mosque and raped the girl.
Aqdas gagged the girl and forcefully hugged her from behind before brutally raping her. Following that, he dragged the girl into the mosque’s restroom against her will where he raped her. Reportedly, Aqdas Chandu fled the scene as the victim began to scream for help. The victim got back home eventually and told her family everything that happened.
The girl’s family members have lodged an FIR against Aqdas Chandu at Bazarpeth police station. It has also been mentioned in the complaint that the accused had raped the victim a year ago also. The police are investigating the matter.
Such incidents common in Pakistan and Bangladesh
Not only in India, such incidents are also common in Islamic countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. Recently, a Maulvi in Pakistan drugged a boy and repeatedly raped him repeatedly inside a mosque. As per the FIR, the incident took place on the intervening night of March 9 and 10 in the jurisdiction of Shaheen Chowk Police Station in Pakistan’s Gujrat.
According to the FIR, Maulvi Mohammad Riaz, the Imam Masjid at the Jamia Masjid Buraq, called the victim and requested him to come to the mosque to seek guidance with Taraweeh prayers during Ramzan.
Soon after, the victim arrived at the mosque, where the accused informed him after the prayers that the Masjid Committee was unavailable for advice on the issue. The accused then requested the boy to stay the night. The victim consented to the Maulvi’s demand. Later in the day, after dinner, the minor performed his prayers and went to sleep. But, when he woke up in the morning at around 8 am, he realized that the accused was allegedly raping him throughout the night.
Conclusion
Recently, OpIndia reported how several adults in Pakistan opened up on social media sharing stories of how they were sexually assaulted by Maulvis in their childhood. On 2nd April, a Pakistani man, Faisal Rafi, asked people on X (formerly Twitter) if they were raped or sexually abused by a Maulvi (Islamic priest/religious teacher). The question went viral quickly, and the number of people, irrespective of gender, who said yes was shocking. Faisal himself said yes to the question. He said the incident happened to him not at a madrasa but at his home.
After this, several persons shared their dreadful experiences revealing the brutality of the Maulvis who teach in Madarsas. The responses made it evident that physical and sexual assault by Maulvis is common in Pakistan, even among Muslims living in the UK. Even in India, such cases have emerged from time to time.
this happened to me in my home not a madrasah
— Faisal Rafi (@faisalrafi) April 3, 2024
Sexual abuse of children in religious institutions such as Madarsas and Mosques is one of the least discussed issues, owning to social taboos and political bias. Often, such stories even fail to find mention in the mainstream media because the Leftist bias against reporting crimes committed by persons of a particular religion. The Leftist media, which often blames the government of being anti-Muslim, turns a blind eye to the exploitation and harassment of young Muslim women and children at the hands of people associated with religious institutions.
