A 25-year-old teacher of a madrasa situated on the Mangrol-Veraval bypass in Gujarat's Junagadh district has been arrested for allegedly sodomising at least ten of his minor students. The police also arrested a 55-year-old trustee of the madrasa for allegedly not taking any action on complaints of the students against the teacher.
While the teacher was nabbed from his hideout in Surat, the madrasa trustee, who had also managed to escape, was caught from a place in Junagadh on Sunday (October 22), according to a statement by Junagadh police on Monday, October 23. The arrests were made based on a complaint by a 17-year-old boy, as per a report by PTI.
The victim student called his mother using the mobile phone of another maulana (teacher) a few days back and complained about the teacher's sexual gestures and acts with students. The woman then approached the police and told them that the madrasa teacher was allegedly involved in sodomising and sexually assaulting students residing and studying in the school.
When the police reached the premises on October 21 and took students into confidence with the help of a few Muslim leaders, 10 boys studying in the madrasa came forward and alleged that they were sodomised by the accused teacher, who had also threatened to kill them if anyone complained to their parents or an outsider.
The police also learnt that when the students approached the madrasa's trustee to save themselves from the teacher, he allegedly did not take any action. When the trustee realised that a case would be filed against the teacher, he allegedly helped the latter in fleeing the place, the police said.
Junagadh Superintendent of Police Harshad Mehta visited the madrasa as part of the investigation and assured the parents that the police would conduct an impartial probe into the matter, as per PTI.
The Mangrol police registered an FIR on Sunday against the two accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 377 (unnatural intercourse), 323 (assault), 506-2 (criminal intimidation) and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
