CHAKWAL: A prayer leader and his accomplice were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting seminary students, police said on Monday. According to police officials, both the suspects worked in a mosque in Dhoke Phulari village located in the area of Tamman police. The matter remained hushed up for three years. However, recently the suspects developed differences with each other which led one of them, who had filmed the crimes, to report the crime to police.

He went to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Talagang Sikandar Gondal and disclosed that his fellow cleric had sexually assaulted four girls and a boy aged between six and 12 years.

He showed the video to the police officer thinking that by doing this only his fellow cleric would be arrested as he did not reveal that he himself had filmed the crime.

The DSP summoned the boy, who is now 14, and the latter confirmed that he was sexually assaulted for five times by the prayer leader.

Police arrested the main suspect who confessed to his crime and also revealed that the informer was his accomplice and filmed the crime. Police registered five cases against both the suspects and obtained their remand from a local court for two days.

When contacted, District Police Officer Mohammad Bin Ashraf told Dawn that medical examination of all the five victims had been conducted.

“We have sent samples for DNA tests and also recovered 10 videos from the suspects. Forensic examination of videos would be conducted,” the DPO said.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2021