UK imam accused of sexually assaulting minor girls who sat with him for Koran recitals

Wales (UK): A Muslim religious priest in Cardiff, United Kingdom, has been accused of sexually assaulting minor girls as young as five years old when they sat with him during Koran recitals.

According to a report in Daily Mail, 81-year-old Mohammed Haji Sadiq would touch the girls on their stomach, chest and private parts during his Koran classes at Madina Mosque in Cardiff, where he taught primary school children for 36 years.

He would also pull the girls towards him and rub their bodies against the inner part of his legs. He would call them to sit next to him saying he wanted to hear them recite the Koran.

Prosecutor Suzanne Thomas said that he took advantage of his position to sexually abuse the girls in his care.

One of his victims, who is now 26 years old, said he would abuse her several times a week. She said that he had touched her under her clothes many times and sometimes he would lay her face on his lap and touch her between her legs.

The priest denied seven counts of indecent assault of a girl under 14 years, and eight counts of assaulting a girl less than 13 years of age by touching.