An imam named Maulana Abdul Qadir of a mosque in Amroha district was arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl in a mosque.
The girl used to come to the mosque for religious studies. She studies in the eighth standard.
The accused Imam was taken into custody by the Didauli Kotwali police on Saturday evening.
The incident took place in a village in Didauli Kotwali area. The minor girl comes from a truck driver’s family that lives in the district. The driver had gone out of the station while his wife and children were at home. His 15-year-old elder daughter is a Class 8 student of the school in the village.
Every day she used to go to the village mosque with other children for religious training. Maulana Abdul Qadir Imam, a resident of village Racheta under Asmauli police station of Sambhal district, works as an imam in this mosque. It is alleged that 15 days back, the imam let the other children go home and stopped the minor girl on the pretext of sweeping. He later took her to a room and raped her. He also threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident. The victim went home and did not tell anyone about the incident out of fear.
On Friday, when her father returned home, the daughter informed him about the incident. Late on Friday evening, the truck driver reached Kotwali with his daughter and filed a complaint against the imam.
Inspector-in-charge Parvez Chauhan said that an FIR had been registered and the accused imam had been arrested and sent to jail. He said the girl had been sent for medical examination.