A Maulvi in the Garhwa District of Jharkhand has been accused of sexually assaulting six minor students in his madrassa. The incident came to light on February 19 when the family members of one of the victims filed a complaint against the Muslim cleric.
The accused has been identified as Samruddin, who is a native of West Bengal. He has been absconding since then.
According to reports, the incident occurred in the Koindi hamlet, which falls within the Nagaruntari police station limits in Garhwa, Jharkhand. Maulvi Samruddin has been teaching in a madrassa named Darul Uloom Samsia for many years in the village. Around 50 students study in his madrassa to learn Islamic religious texts.
Maulvi Samruddin allegedly called the children to his room and then sexually abused them under the guise of getting a massage. On February 19, he summoned three students to his room and asked two of them to stand guard outside the room. After locking his room from the inside, he asked the third child to give him a massage.
While the child was doing so, Samruddin began misbehaving with him. The child resisted and told about this to his family.
When the student’s family members came to the madrassa with a complaint, maulvi allegedly reportedly, along with his supporters, assaulted the family members.
The victim’s relatives alleged that another cleric of the same madrassa, Ashraf tried to cover up the matter, but his attempts failed as someone informed the police about the matter.
Police soon reached the spot and recorded the students’ statements, based on which a case was registered against the cleric. Meanwhile, the maulvi has been absconding since the complaint was filed against him.
SDPO Pramod Kumar has said that efforts are being made to apprehend Samruddin.
Sexual assault has become a very distinguishing feature of madrassas.
As reported by the Organiser in March last year, a Maulana in Kerala was arrested for raping a 13-year-old girl. Maulana Sharafudeen had threatened the victim that he would harm her family if she revealed about rape to anybody.
In January 2022, in a similar incident, a cleric named Maulvi Tabrez had raped and impregnated a minor girl who came to study at his Madarsa in the Sitamarhi district in the Mithila region of Bihar. He also recorded the act and started blackmailing her with the video. The cleric reportedly used the video to rape her on several occasions further until she became pregnant.
In another such case, Maulana Shoaib Akhtar was arrested on February 6 for raping a 10-year-old child in a madrasa in Hyderabad. Akhtar, who taught Arabic in the madrasa, was raping the victim every day. The matter came to light on February 6 when the victim complained to his parents about pain in his private parts.
