Minor 'sexually assaulted, tortured' by Rawalpindi madrassa administrator

A 12-year-old girl in Rawalpindi has been allegedly sexually assaulted and tortured by her madrassa (seminary) administrator with the help of his female colleague.

In a first information report (FIR) lodged with the Pirwadhai police station on August 17, the victim’s mother stated that her daughter had been studying in the madrassa for the last seven years.

She said one day she received a call from the seminary administration, informing her that her daughter had fallen unconscious and added that when she was brought home there were bruises on her face.

“As soon as my daughter reached home, she hugged me and started crying,” she said.

Upon asking, the victim told her that Mufti Shahnawaz Ahmed, the administrator of the madrassa, had been harassing her for the last five months.

He also tried to sexually abuse her and threatened her of dire consequences. He said he would “cut her into pieces and drain it into the nullah” if she told anyone about it.

Out of fear, the victim did not disclose her ordeal to anyone.

One day, Ishrat, a female teacher of the madrassa, said, “do as the mufti says, otherwise you will not be successful”.

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The complainant further stated that Ishrat one day took her daughter to Mufti Shahnawaz’s room, where he tried to rape her and when she resisted they tortured her and forced her to drink a “tea-like drink”, which left her unconscious.

After that she had no idea what was happening to her, she added.

The mother also told the police that the accused would also brandish weapons and threaten to kill her and blowing up her house with explosives he said he possessed.

As soon as the case came to fore, the accused went into hiding while the police have registered a case and conducting raids to arrest the suspects.

Meanwhile, Rawalpindi CPO Muhammad Ahsan Younis while taking notice of the incident directed the police to arrest the suspects within nest six days.

While explaining the reason for delay in arrest, the police officials said the victim’s mother did not report the incident to the relevant police station in time and instead she gave application to the CPO during an open Kacheri (public meeting).

CPO Younis said the medical examination of the victim has been carried out and teams have been formed to arrest the accused.

“The accused will be arrested soon and brought to justice,” he pledged.