A 28-year-old maulana has been arrested by the Wadala TT police for allegedly harbouring an offender in the kidnap and rape case of a minor. The maulana allegedly allowed the accused to use his house to rape the victim repeatedly. The victim is now pregnant, the police said.
According to the Wadala T.T police the accused Mohammad Afzal Ishiyak Shaikh is a maulana who teaches students from well-to-do families staying in the affluent Bhakti Park area.
Afzal is a friend of the main accused Shadab Ibrar Qureshi (19), a mobile repairer, who had kidnapped the 16-year-old minor from her residence in the Wadala TT area on November 29. He stayed with the victim in Chikalwadi, Biganwadi in Govandi area of eastern suburbs for about 10 days. The room in Chikalwadi was rented to Afzal’s sister, who is currently at her village.
Afzal’s brother-in-law had given him the house to use it in their absence. However, Afzal gave it to Shadab knowing he was living there with the minor, the police said. After raping the victim repeatedly for 10 days, the accused took her to the residence of another friend identified as Kayum Qureshi in the Wadala TT area. Here they lived for days till the police received a tip off about their whereabouts.
A week ago, Shadab and Kayum were arrested. After further investigation, the role of Afzal came to light, after which he was arrested on Tuesday. The victim was returned to her parents but she started experiencing abdominal pain and a medical test at a hospital revealed she was pregnant following the rape.
Qureshi in his statement said that Afzal “got them married” which is allowed in the religion. Afzal however denied getting them married. Police inspector Sunil Kadam who is investigating the case said, “As per law the girl needs to be 18 to get married and her consent does not matter and a crime has been made out.”
The trio has been booked under Sections 363 (Kidnap), 376 (Rape), 212 (Harbouring offender), 34 (Common intention) of IPC and 4 (Penetrative sexual assault), 8 (Sexual assault) and 12 (Sexual harassment on a child) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). Afzal has been sent to judicial custody.
