Prayer leader, deputy arrested for raping children in Chakwal: official

Police in Chakwal’s Talagang have arrested the prayer leader of a mosque and his deputy for raping and blackmailing four minor girls, an official confirmed Monday.

On April 9, a man had filed a complaint with the police, saying her nine-year-old granddaughter was raped by his madrassa teacher.

“When we probed the matter, we came to know that it didn’t only happen but the video of it was also made,” Investigation SP Faisal told reporters.

There were more videos in his cellphone, the official said. He said the police found videos of minor girls in his cellphone.

The accused, Maulvi Sultan and Hassan Shahzad, used to rape children in a room adjacent to the mosque, according to the police.

Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, PM’s special representative on religious harmony, told a private source that mosque committees don’t closely examine religious and educational credentials of people when they appoint Imams or Khateebs.

“Our demand is that they be hanged at the same place where they commit such crimes,” Ashrafi said.