Kerala Muslim cleric accused of sexual abuse held in TN:Police

A Muslim cleric, absconding after an alleged sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl near here, was arrested in Madurai in Tammil Nadu Thursday, police said. Shafeeq Al Qasimi, who was removed as imam of a nearby mosque after the assault came to light, was nabbed from a lodge in the temple city, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar told PTI here.

Qasimi had been on the run for the last one month and shifted his place of stay with the help of a relative, who was also arrested and their car seized, a deputy superintendent of police Ashok Kumar told PTI. A case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act had been registered against him based on the mosque committee's statement.

Qasimi had allegedy lured the girl to an isolated forest area at Vithura, near here, and sexually assaulted her. The abuse came to light after a group of local women confronted the cleric on seeing him with the school-going girl in the forest..

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