Mufti Aziz ur Rehman confesses to molesting madrassa student

Religious cleric Mufti Aziz ur Rehman has reportedly confessed that he had sexually assaulted one of his pupils at a madrassa in Lahore.

The cleric and his sons were presented before the Cantt court on Monday.

In response to a police request, the the court approved a four-day physical remand of the suspect. It also directed the police to conduct a DNA test and medical examination.

The cleric told interrogators that he had sodomized the victim.

Aziz told the police that his sons had threatened the student and told him not to speak to anyone about it. However, despite the threats, the student went ahead and posted the video online.

The cleric also said that he issued a video statement because he did not want to leave the madrassah, adding that following the video leak, the administration of the madrassah urged him to leave his job.

Once police registered a case against Aziz, he had fled from the madrassah to avoid arrest and sought refuge in the houses of some of his students. Per the police, Aziz went into hiding in different areas, including Township, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, and Mianwali.

The police said that Aziz and his sons were traced via the location of their mobile phones. They were hiding in Mianwali when the police finally arrested them.

The police had registered a case against Aziz, his sons, and two other unidentified men on Thursday, June 17, after a video of the cleric, which showed him sexually assaulting a student, provoked outrage on social media.