Shock and anger has gripped Jammu and Kashmir after a Moulvi (cleric) allegedly raped a seven-year-old girl in a Madrassa (Islamic seminary) at Nagrota in Jammu division.
Police have arrested the accused cleric and booked him for rape under section 376 Ranbir Penal Code (RPC). Indian Penal Code is not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir given its special status in the Indian Union and separate Constitution.
The incident occurred two days ago when a seven-year-old girl went to Madrassa at Kattal Battal village for receiving religious education. Police said the accused took her to his room where he allegedly raped her.
Station House Officer (SHO), Nagrota Police Station, Bhushan Manhas told DNA that the Moulvi has been taken on police remand for seven days after he was arrested.
“This girl was the student of the seminary. She used to go there to receive education. On the particular day, only a few students had turned up for studies. The accused took this girl to a room and raped her. She later went home and narrated the tale to her mother,” said Manhas.
The mother immediately rushed her to the police station and lodged a formal complaint against the Moulvi. Police swung into action and registered a case. “We have arrested the Moulvi and booked him for rape under section 376 RPC. The accused hails from West Bengal and had been teaching in the seminary for the last six months,” he said.
This is the second incident of rape that has shook Jammu in the last three months. Body of an eight-year-old girl was found near the jungles at Rasana village of Hiranagar in Kathua district on January 17, a week after she went missing near her home in Kota village.
Four people, including two Special Police Officers, have been arrested in the case so far. SPO Deepak Khajuria alias Depu, 28, were arrested after Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Crime Branch found evidence about his alleged involvement in the case last month. Khajuria was part of the police team searching for the girl after her parents lodged a missing report in Hiranagar police station.
The fresh incident at Nagrota has come more than a month after a Islamic teacher had allegedly sodomised a student inside a Madrassa in Baramulla district of North Kashmir. The Police had later arrested the teacher and booked him under section 377 and 506 of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
