Rampant child sex abuse in Kerala’s madrasas: Muslim clerics, PFI terrorists booked under POCSO Act

Kerala : There are reports of many POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act cases from all over the state during the last few days. A Madrassa cleric was arrested in Kozhikkode for sexually abusing a student. The incident occurred in Edakkad. Shamseer from Kannur, the accused, is remanded. Shamseer is reported to have threatened to kill the victim if the matter was disclosed. Still, the minor, a Muzhapilangad native, informed his parents. A paedophile, a Moulana, was arrested accordingly. Based on the suspicion that he has abused several other children, the investigation is being carried out.

One Adbul Kareem, a teacher from a school in Vengara, Malappuram district, was arrested again for a POSCO offence. The complainant, a 13-year-old 7th-standard student, informed the teachers, and they told the police. Several other students, more than fifteen of them from the same school, came out to complain. They are sixth and seventh-standard students. The paedophile accused confessed, ruing the interrogation that he had sexually abused several minor female students during the class. He is the North District President of the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI).

A POCSO case was registered last Friday against another teacher for trying to molest a student when the Kollam district school arts festival was going on. The accused, Yousuf, a native of Kadakkal, Kollam, has absconded since then. The complainant said the accused misbehaved with her, on the bus, during their travel to the eatery. The student informed other teachers, and consequently, the case was charged; police tried to arrest the accused paedophile.

The next day, Ibrahim (50), a madrassa ustad, was arrested for POCSO charges. The Pang native paedophile is a teacher at Kodur Mundakkad Masjid. ChildLine received a complaint which they forwarded to Malappuram Women’s Police Station. Subsequently, he was arrested. Sandhya Devi, a Woman Sub Inspector, investigates the case. The accused was taken for a medical examination. Some Mosque Mahal Committee members allege that it is a fake complaint. Police conduct a detailed investigation into the case.

Interestingly, a ‘child marriage case’ has been reported from Kuttikatoor, Kozhikode. The alleged wedding took place on November 18. Groom, the first accused and the girl’s parents, the second and the third accused, abscond. The “clerics” who solemnised the wedding also will be charged. POCSO case will be pressed only after the girl’s medical examination. The 17-year-old girl was married off by her clergy parent. She will turn 17 only by April next. The District Child Protection Unit has stated they would take this incident seriously. The child Protection Officer gave a detailed report to the Kozhikode Chief Judicial Magistrate.

Indian courts have made a conflicting judgement on Muslim Child Marriage. They have even shown a leaning towards Sharia rule, which permits Muslim girls to marry as soon as she attains puberty or turns 15, whichever comes first. And they have even ruled that POCSO Law, which terms sex under the age of 18 illegal, is above Muslim Sharia law.

These incidents show that things concerning children’s safety and peaceful lives are not pleasant in Kerala. The most important reasons for this are excessive religious minority appeasement and the unnecessary significance party politics gets in the state.