PIONEEREDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports about an Imam allegedly sexually abusing a minor boy at a mosque in the Jhabreda area of Haridwar district on August 20. Reportedly, the victim boy had gone to study in the mosque when the incident took place.
The commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise serious issues of violation of the human rights of the victim. Therefore, it has issued notices to the Haridwar district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police, calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.
It will be recalled that A Hafiz/Imam of a mosque in the Jhabreda area of Haridwar district was arrested last week by the police for allegedly sodomising a minor. According to the police, a man lodged a police complaint stating that the accused Nasir who is a Hafiz/Imam in the Badi Masjid in Khatakhedi had taken his boy into a room when he was studying and sodomised him.
The complainant stated that the accused had also threatened his boy that he would kill him if he told anyone about the incident. Considering the seriousness of the incident at a time when the State government is checking Madarsas to prevent irregularities, the police registered a case based on the complaint and arrested the accused within 24 hours.
The police said that the accused man was about to leave the city on learning that the matter had reached the police. The accused was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) and other relevant laws.
