Kunnamkulam Fast Track Special POCSO Court Judge Lisha S has announced a rare verdict. She sentenced a Madrassa teacher who molested a minor boy to 53 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 60,000 in Thrissur, Kerala. Madrassa Ustad Siddique Bakavi sexually abused the victim since January 2019 until he was caught.
The court considered the case as the rarest of the rare since the minor boy was used for persistent unnatural sexual purposes. Bakavi sodomized the victim at Pazhunnana, where he lived, and at Pannithadam mosque cum madrassa, where he taught. The court heard how 43-year-old ustad subjected the child to unnatural sex and his actions damaged the child’s mental state.
While imposing the punishment, the court reminded the accused that he had indulged in the gravest of crimes. Teachers should act as children’s guardians in schools and religious learning centers.
Judge Lisha said that such acts of teachers should shock the public conscience and be questioned. If the court frees the accused quickly, he will become a threat to other children. The judge announced the punishment by clarifying that this situation should not happen to any other child.
Initially, the child did not report the abuse to the school teachers. Shocking information emerged when the teachers noticed the child regularly slept during class. This was when the school’s teachers discovered the minor boy was sexually abused.
The victim informed his teachers that the ustad forced him for sexual purposes most days. The pedophile did not leave the minor boy even at night. He said he could not sleep because of the madrasah teacher’s harassment. That was why he slept while attending classes.
The teachers who came to know the information informed the child’s parents. The family came to know about the harassment of the madrassa teacher only when the school teachers told them about it. Then, on the school’s instruction, the child and his parents approached Kunnamkulam police station and filed a complaint.
Local police took a case and investigated. They were convinced that the child’s statement was true. The latest court verdict comes from several POCSO cases involving minor boys and girls being abused by the madrassa teachers being reported from all over Kerala.
Madrassas and mosques have become dens for sexual atrocities against minors. As usual, mainstream media refused to carry the news about the pedophile madrassa ustad. How long will they hide the truth?
