A Maulvi named Abdul Rehman (24) was sentenced to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping a minor girl. He has been asked to pay 1 lakh rupees to the victim or spend an additional year in jail. Abdul is a resident of Beemapally in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram Special Fast Track court Judge R. Jayakrishnan said that no justification can be offered for such crimes. He ordered the government to arrange further compensation for the victim.

The 15-year-old victim is a friend of Abdul’s sister. Abdul groomed the victim back in 2018 while she was studying in her 10th standard. He started forcing her to engage in sexual acts but the girl resisted.  

Abdul then promised to marry her and the young girl fell for the trap and was raped on several occasions from July till Dec 2018. The victim felt that since he is a cleric he would stick to his word. Having used her for his sexual pleasures, Adbul discarded her and refused to marry her. That is when things turned ugly.

The victim’s mother confronted him but Abdul denied having any links with the girl. Desperate, the girl climbed onto the terrace of the building where the rapist lived and threatened to jump. Abdul assaulted her and the Poonthura police had to intervene following which the maulvi was arrested. Her medical examination confirmed that Abdul had raped her. 

Charges were filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Abdul was found guilty of aggravated penetrative sexual assault. Special Public Prosecutor Vijay Mohan R.S said that Abdul had threatened to kill the girl and that is why she hid the rape when the assaults began. 

Poonthura Advocate Tharif B. defended Abdul during the trial. 16 witnesses were produced by the prosecution. 25 years is the maximum punishment that the law stipulates. Cases involving pedophile Muslim and Christian clerics are on the rise in Kerala and such punishments should deter such rapists in the future.