Mumbai: A Muslim cleric has been arrested for sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl on the premises of a madrasa in Chunabhatti. The police suspect the cleric attached to the Noorul Uloom Madrasa in Chunabhatti may have sexually abused other female students too.
According to the Chunabhatti police, the incident came to light after the young girl refused to attend the daily classes at the madrasa. The minor would attend a three to four-hour class at the madrasa everyday after school, to learn religious scriptures. “On Saturday, the girl’s mother asked her to get ready for school but she refused to go. The mother probed her reluctance but the girl did not say anything. Worried, the mother insisted that she tell her the reason and it was then that the girl told her that her teacher at the madrasa would touch her inappropriately,” said an official of the Chunabhatti police station.
The minor’s parents then rushed to the police station to register an FIR against the religious cleric who has since then been identified as 28-year-old Atifur Rehman Ansari. The accused who was a level below the Maulana in the madrasa would teach the students religious texts and also the Quran. “The minor has said that Ansari would sit very close to the students and point out passages in the religious books during the class. While doing so, he would slide his hand through the girl’s scarf and dress and touch her genital areas,” said the officer.
The officer further revealed that the accused had assaulted the girl repeatedly over the last year and the most recent incident occurred on Friday, following which the girl refused to attend classes. Ansari, hailing from Bihar, who stayed on the premises of the madrasa was earlier attached to a madrasa in Bhiwandi and moved to Noorul Uloom, a few years ago.
The madrasa located in Qureshi Nagar had four batches of children attending classes with the minor’s batch having eight boys and nine girls.
Officials suspect that the accused may have sexually assaulted other children too in the past. “We are speaking to other children and their parents. Preliminary investigation shows he might have sexually abused one more female student too and we are trying to talk to her,” the officer said.
