LAHORE: Police have reportedly arrested cleric Mufti Aziz-ur-Rehman from Mianwali after a case was registered for sexually assaulting a seminary student.
Punjab Inspector General (IGP) Inam Ghani has confirmed the arrest. “We will take it as a test case, interrogate him, conduct scientific professional investigation, prosecute and get him convicted by the court. We want our kids protected from these child molesters and keep our society safe for our future,” he said in a statement on Twitter.
Police had launched a manhunt for the cleric who has fled with his two sons after a video of the incident went viral on social media. A day earlier, police raided different places including a madrassah in Township area of Lahore but no arrest could be made.
Mufti Aziz ur Rehman escaped with his two sons after the cleric sexually abused a student at a seminary. North Cantonment police had registered a case on the complaint of victim against the cleric and his sons for blackmailing and threatening to kill him for exposing their father.
The case was registered on the student’s complaint when police arrived at his local madrassa in Lahore after the video went viral on social media.
The student said Rehman, a former Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) leader, sexually abused him and then the cleric’s sons started blackmailing and threatening to kill him.
Earlier on Friday the superintendent of the madrassa where Rehman worked said that the cleric had been dismissed. Superintendent Asadullah Farooq said Rehman and his sons had been asked to leave the madrassa and the institution was not responsible for any of their acts.
Meanwhile, JUI Lahore’s secretary-general also issued a notice stating that after the video, the party had suspended the membership of Mufti Rehman and that it would remain revoked till the investigation concludes.
We have been able to arrest this criminal. We will take it as a test case, interrogate him, conduct scientific professional investigation, prosecute and get him convicted by the court. We want our kids protected from these child molesters and keep our society safe for our future. pic.twitter.com/W8frA3irKC
— Inam Ghani QPM & Bar, PSP (@InamGhani) June 20, 2021
