Child molesters should be publicly hanged: Ashrafi

Ashrafi alleged certain ‘groups’ were targeting religious seminaries on the pretext of sexual crimes

LAHORE:

Special Representative to Prime Minister on Religious Affairs Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi on Friday called upon the state to hang child molesters on Minar-e-Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference at Jamia Manzoor-ul-Islamiyah, the special representative to the premier demanded that those who commit sexual abuse against children at sacred places such as mosques and religious seminaries should be handed down a severe punishment.

Proposing stringent laws to curtail sexual offences, Ashrafi suggested that a helpline should be set up at the government level to enable victims to reach out and register a complaint.

Special courts exclusively devoted to adjudicating sexual crimes should also be established, he said.

“The verdict in such cases should be expedited and shouldn’t take longer than three months. The hearing should be held in the same area and the hanging of the culprit should take place in the same area”.

Ashrafi’s statement comes days after the Lahore police arrested Mufti Aziz-ur-Rehman, booked for molesting a seminary student.

The cleric had been on the run after being booked on sexual assault charges. The charges came after the assault survivor released footage of Mufti Aziz assaulting him.

The video spread shock-waves on Pakistani Twitter as netizens not only called for immediate action against Aziz but also for clearing out paedophiles in religious seminaries across the country.

However, responding to the outpouring of outrage on Friday, Ashrafi alleged that certain “groups” in the country were targeting religious seminaries on the pretext of growing concerns about sexual crimes.

“This is not acceptable,” he asserted and added that sexual offences were not particular to religious people and there was no inherent link between the two.

He went on to say that around 3 million students were currently studying at 30,000 madrasas in the country. “Does this mean you can generalise everyone linked to madrassas?” he questioned.

“A teacher who was convicted of committing sodomy at a madrassa was recently fired by the administration of the seminary. The madrassa fulfilled its responsibility dutifully,” Ashrafi said.

Throwing weight behind Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent controversial statements about rape, the special representative to the premier said: “Veil was made mandatory by the Holy Quran, but unfortunately some people chose to take offence”.

He said that the holy book requires women to cover themselves in veil and urges men to lower their gaze.

“Both men and women should dress modestly to avoid temptation,” he insisted.