Madrassa principal arrested for ‘sexually assaulting’ minor girl in Rawalpindi

Police detain Mufti Shahnawaz for ‘resisting arrest’ after he was granted interim bail by local court

RAWALPINDI:

Mufti Shahnawaz Ahmed, the prime accused in a case of alleged sexual assault and torture of 16-year-old madrassa student, has been arrested in Rawalpindi.

In a first information report (FIR) lodged with the Pirwadhai police station on August 17, the victim’s mother had said that her daughter was allegedly sexually assaulted and tortured by Mufti Ahmed with the help of his female colleague at his seminary a few days ago.

She said that her daughter had been studying in the madrassa for the last seven years and one day she received a call from the seminary administration, informing her that her daughter had fallen unconscious.

When the victim was brought home there were bruises on her face, she said in the complaint.

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

Mufti Shahnawaz and his accomplice had fled the scene after committing the horrifying crime and police had been searching for them for the last five days.

In a major headway on Monday, Rawalpindi police arrested the prime accused and his son, brother, nephew, and seminary deputy for allegedly assisting Mufti Shahnawaz to evade arrest.Co-accused, Ishrat, one the other hand has been released on interim bail. All the accused will be produced in court tomorrow, the police said.

Also read: Minor 'sexually assaulted, tortured' by Rawalpindi madrassa administrator

Police teams under supervision of SP Rawal Ziaud Din conducted raids in Rawalpindi, Chakri, Hassan Abdal, Mansehra and other areas to arrest the suspects.

On Monday afternoon, Mufti Shahnawaz reached a local Rawalpindi court and was granted interim bail in the case.

According to a police spokesperson, the accused was later arrested under “Section 212/224 TPP” for resisting arrest.

In addition, ‘Section 37-B’ for indecent exposure to a child and ‘Section (II) 506’ for hurling life threats have also been included in the case against the accused, the spokesperson added.

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