Footage of Mufti Azizur Rehman, a 70-year-old religious cleric and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s vice ameer in Lahore, sexually assaulting one of his teenage seminary students went viral this week.
The video spread shockwaves on Pakistani Twitter as netizens not only called for immediate action to be taken against Rehman but a clear out of pedophiles in religious seminaries across the country. Many took to social media and expressed shock and anger over the leaked video, condemning the act. Rabia Butt and Meesha Shafi, too, shared their stance on the matter.
The Coke Studio singer took to Twitter and shared her disgust. "Allah humain aur humaray bachon ko mullah se bachaye (May God keep us and our children safe from mullah). Sexual abuse of children in madrassahs especially is vast in scale, if not more, as the history of sexual abuse in Catholic Churches. They had an eventual reckoning. Will we ever?" she shared, adding, " And so the boy in that sick video is now under attack and in hiding? See clearly and remember, it doesn’t matter if there’s evidence, a literal video, the defense and denial of the guilty party always on the same note. The aftermath for the victim is always fearful. Shame!"
Allah humain aur humaray bachon ko mullah se bachaye. Sexual abuse of children in madrassahs especially is vast in scale, if not more, as the history of sexual abuse in Catholic Churches. They had an eventual reckoning. Will we ever?
— MEESHA SHAFI (@itsmeeshashafi) June 18, 2021
And so the boy in that sick video is now under attack and in hiding? See clearly and remember, it doesn’t matter if there’s evidence, a literal video FFS, the defence and denial of the guilty party always on the same note. The aftermath for the victim always fearful. SHAME!
— MEESHA SHAFI (@itsmeeshashafi) June 18, 2021
"We are surrounded by morons," the Pehli Si Mohabbat star shared. "Defaming religion, defaming humanity by raping adults and minors in madrassahs, mosques, schools, colleges, offices... you name it. Measures like cutting rapists' private parts should be considered all over."
A video message was also leaked with the footage by the teary-eyed survivor, in which he claims that: ”My attacker’s sons have threatened to kill me for exposing him [Mufti Aziz]”. In distress, the survivor shares that he is in hiding, adding that, “It is better I die” out of fear of retribution in the recording.
Meanwhile, Mufti Aziz, whose membership has been suspended by his party, also issued a video statement not only denying his role in the viral video but also claiming that “it is part of a conspiracy to smear his name”. Mufti Aziz claimed that certain elements inside the seminary wanted to expel him, adding that, ”This video is fake as you can’t even see me move in it".
"Where is my accuser? It has been two weeks since he was last seen...I was clearly drugged by this boy,” he goes on to detail in the video.
In a letter obtained by The Express Tribune, the Jamia Manzoorul Islamia has moved to terminate the services of the now maligned Mufti.
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