Gujarat: Madrasa teacher held for sodomising 10 minor students

AHMEDABAD: A 25-year-old teacher of a madrasa in Gujarat's Junagadh district has been arrested for allegedly sodomising at least 10 of his minor students, police said. Apart from the maulana (teacher), the police have also arrested a 55-year-old trustee of the madrasa for allegedly not taking any action on complaints of the students against the teacher, Junagadh district police said in a statement on Monday.

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, said the statement. Based on a complaint given by a 17-year-old boy, the Mangrol police registered an FIR on Sunday against the two accused under Indian Penal Code sections 377 (unnatural intercourse), 323 (assault), 506-2 (criminal intimidation) and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The offence came to light after one of the students of the residential school, situated on Mangrol-Veraval bypass, called his mother using the mobile phone of another maulana a few days back and complained about the teacher's sexual gestures and acts with students, the police statement said. 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, it said.

When the police reached the premises on October 21 and took students into confidence with the help of some 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 any student 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 will be filed against the teacher, he allegedly helped the latter in fleeing from the place, the police said. Junagadh Superintendent of Police Harshad Mehta visited the madrasa as part of the investigation and assured parents of the students that the police will conduct an impartial probe into the matter.