A shocking case of rape and sexual exploitation of at least five minor girls, aged 5 to 9 years, inside the premises of an illegal Madrasa, has come to light from Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur. A 34-year-old Maulvi named Shabbir Raza has been arrested on charges of raping and sexually exploiting the minor girls. It is said that he used to scare the minor girls by telling them stories of ‘djinns’ and threatening to unleash those spirits on their parents. He is also accused of showing the minor girls porn videos on his phone.
The accused Maulvi, Shabbir Raza, was arrested on 18th August from Malsi village. As per reports, Raza originally hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district. He was appointed as the Maulvi in the mosque which is located in Malsi village in Rudrapur city’s US Nagar. He was running an illegal Madrasa within the Mosque where he was teaching Urdu language to children up to 14-15 years of age. He had built another room for himself inside the madrasa, where an AC was installed. It is said that he committed the heinous crime in this room.
As per reports, Raza arrived in Malsi only two months ago as he was earlier living in Rampur Shahbad.
The heinous crime came to the fore when one of the minors narrated her ordeal to her family members on 16th August. Subsequently, on the next day, her mother filed a Police complaint in this matter.
According to Police officials, the extent of the crime could turn out to be much bigger as the accused was committing the crime for nearly two months. So far, the Police investigation has confirmed the sexual exploitation of at least five girls.
According to the Police, Raza used to beat older boys on the pretext that they didn’t complete their homework and sent them away. He also asked older girls to leave by giving them a lot of homework. However, he used to make the younger girls, aged 5-9, stay at the Madrassa for extra classes.
On Friday (23rd August), the Police said that the accused Maulvi would also take the girls one by one inside his room and make them watch porn on his phone before violating them.
Police statement on the modus-operandi of the accused Maulvi
SSP (US Nagar), Manjunath TC, said, “In the complaint, one girl’s mother alleged that apart from her daughter, the maulvi (cleric), Shabbir Raza, a resident of Pilibhit, sexually assaulted four more girls.”
The SSP added, “The children used to attend the Urdu class in the afternoon after finishing their regular school. As per a preplanned design, Raza used to beat the older male students on pretext of not doing their homework and send them home early. For the older girls, he used to give them a lot of homework and send them away while asking the younger ones, aged 5-9 years, to stay back on the pretext of extra class.”
While the minor girls told Police that the accused Maulvi had violated at least 5-7 girls. The Police official added, “We’re suspecting the number to be more. Raza had been committing the crime for nearly two months.”
In Rudrapur (Uttarakhand), a 34-year-old Maulvi Shabbir Raja raped and sexually abused innocent girls aged 5 to 9 years.
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) August 24, 2024
He was a Urdu teacher of a madrasa, used to trap girls from Madarsa as well.
Maulana's bad-luck that he's not from WB, nobody will be able to save him. pic.twitter.com/Z6irKSvcRo
Based on her complaint, a case was registered under sections 351 (3), 74, and other sections of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). The accused was also booked under the POCSO Act. The SSP added that the police are gathering information regarding him. They are also ascertaining the fact whether Shabbir Raza had any criminal history.
The SSP further said, “Suspecting more girls to come forward in the coming days, we’ve requested a child welfare commission to conduct counselling of the survivors and their parents.”
