MUZAFFARGARH, March 20: A police raid unearthed a ‘mini-jail’ set up at a seminary in the suburban of the Kotaddu city wherein the children were detained, tortured and sodomised. Police have arrested the cleric and released children.

The ordeal of the children came to light when 10-year-old Muhammad Irfan, a student of the seminary, ran away from the seminary on March 18 and informed police.

He told police that seven days ago, his father Sagheer Ahmed admitted him to the seminary for learning the Holy Quran by heart. He said the moment his father left him in the seminary, his teacher Qari Ghulam Rasool chained him and detained him in a room where 10 students had already been chained and detained.

He said that his other fellows told him that all the newcomers had to live in detention for months. He said that they were taken out of the rooms only for two hours a day. He said the teacher used to beat them with iron rods and at night sexually assaulted them. He said at time he would ask the student to massage his body.

He said two days ago, he found a chance and sneaked out of the seminary and reached the Kotaddu City Police Station and informed them about the situation.

Station House Officer Muhammad Yousaf said police raided the seminary and found iron rods, chains and aphrodisiacs in the seminary. He said the police brought the students to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital where doctors examined them and confirmed that two children had been sexually assaulted. There were 24 students at the seminary at the time of the raid. They are aged from four to 16 and have come from Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Layyah and Kotaddu.

Police said that they informed the parents of the children.

There are over 100 non-registered seminaries in Muzaffargarh where over 3,000 children are studying. Most of the students are from poor families.

Kot Addu City Police registered a case under sections 377 and 344 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Qari Ghulam Rasool and arrested him. The accused denied the charges.

KILLER ARRESTED: Police arrested the alleged killer of a two-year-old child who had been kidnapped from Langar Sarai on March 1. Raza Hasnian, son of Raza Hasnain, went missing from his house and later his body was found in a deserted place. Police investigated the matter and arrested Khalid Awaira who confessed to killing the child. The accused said that he had killed the child to prevent Raza from buying a house in his neighbourhood.