Police are investigating 500 cases of alleged child abuse implicating maulvis, a minister said on Thursday. Most of the cases have been reported within the last six months in Punjab, Religious Affairs Minister Aamir Liaqat Hussain told AFP. He said that 14 clerics had been taken into custody accused of child molestation but were released by police due to lack of evidence.
| "Yeah. Da witnesses wuz all dead." |
He added that the ministry had been asked to investigate the claims with the help of the police and that 500 cases of abuse had been reported. The alleged victims included both boys and girls mostly under the age of 14, he said. "The Federation of Madrassas (seminaries) is willing to cooperate with us because the so-called clerics have brought a bad name to madrassas and Islam."
| "And, boy, that took some doing!" |
Hussain said not all reported cases implicated clerics from madrassas. Some who teach children at home were also under suspicion, he said. The country has some 10,000 madrassas with around 500,000 students. |