CHAKWAL: Two seminary teachers have been arrested and a case of “unnatural offences” has been registered against them following allegations that they sexually assaulted at least 15 minor students, it emerged on Friday.

The incident came to light after the father and uncle of one of the victims approached District Police Officer Retired Captain Wahid Mehmood during an open court or katchery on Friday.

“I rushed to the seminary along with a police team and personally interviewed all the students, who said that they were being assaulted,” the DPO told Dawn.

The victims were being examined by doctors at the District Headquarters Hospital on Friday evening, and until the filing of this report, doctors said that an examination of at least eight students suggested that they had been assaulted.

According to police, the ages of the victims ranged between nine and twelve and according to them, the abuse had been going on for at least three to four weeks.

“Our police teams conducted two raids, one in Mianwali and another in Jatli, in which both the accused were arrested,” the DPO said, vowing that both the accused of this heinous crime would face the music.

When contacted, one of the founders of the seminary told Dawn that they had received allegations of inappropriate conduct by one of the teachers in question, which were substantiated by an examination of CCTV footage.

The founder said that the teacher in question was expelled, and has now been arrested by the police.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2023