Last week, a 25-year-old Madarsa teacher, Maulana Mohammed Arshad Rehmani, was arrested in Raipur, Chhattisgarh for the alleged rape of a 9-year-old girl. As per reports, the family of the Maulana is pressurizing the family of the victim to marry her to the alleged rapist. They have also been threatening the girl’s family to withdraw the case against their son.
According to reports, the victim’s father has filed a complaint with the Khamardih police station in Raipur, in this regard. The police who have already started probing the rape charges will now also investigate the alleged threats issued to the girl’s family, based on the complaint lodged by the victim’s father.
The police had arrested Maulana Mohammed Arshad Rehmani, who was also a teacher in a Madarsa, on August 9 (Sunday) after he had allegedly raped the 9-year-old girl. The Maulana had been visiting the home of the 9-year-old girl for the past fifteen days to teach her younger sister Arabic. Recently, he began teaching the victim too.
Maulana was booked under POCSO Act
The accused, who reportedly had been accused of a similar crime in the past too, has been booked under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The incident
In what transpired, the Maulana assaulted the girl sexually on Sunday after he found the little girl alone in her house. After committing the heinous crime, Rehmani reportedly fled from there. Afterwards, the child told her parents about the ordeal following which they promptly reported the matter to the police.
Victim’s father says he is being threatened
As per reports, the father of the victim has stated that he is getting threats from the local madarsa to withdraw the case against the Maulana. He has stated that some people associated with the madarsa have asked him to withdraw the rape case, failing which his daughter (the victim) will be vilified and ostracized from the local community. The victim’s father has stated that he will now register complaints against anyone who asks him to take back the complaint or ‘compromise’ with the Maulana.
Maulana Mohammed Arshad Rehmani originally hails from Bihar’s Banka district. He has reportedly been staying in the madarsa at Pandhri area in Raipur.