A cleric has been arrested for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl in a mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district, news agency IANS reported, citing the police. The incident allegedly occurred when the girl had gone to take Urdu class from Maulana Muntazir Alam, 28, in a mosque in the Kurara area of the district, according to the police.
As per IANS, the Maulana stopped the girl after the class and raped her. He allegedly gave toffee to her younger brother and asked him to sit outside the mosque before committing the crime. Later, when the girl reached home, she informed her parents about the incident, and they informed the police.
Station House Officer, Kurara, Sri Prakash Yadav, said that an FIR has been registered under the relevant sections of the IPC and the POCSO Act, and the accused, who belongs to Bihar, has been detained, IANS reported.
In another incident in Bihar, a school cab driver was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting two five-year-old girls in Begusarai district on Tuesday, as reported by news agency IANS. The incident occurred in a village that comes under the Virpur police station in Begusarai. The accused committed the crime after picking up the two girls from a private school to drop them home.
According to IANS, on the way, the accused stopped the vehicle in an isolated place and allegedly raped them. He also made video clips of the assault and threatened them with dire consequences if they informed anyone about the incident.
The alleged driver dropped both girls off at their respective homes after committing the crime. The victims revealed the ordeal to their parents, and soon a family member of one of the girls chased the driver and nabbed him. The accused was handed over to the police. A massive outrage was created in the village following the incident, and a violent mob set the school cab on fire.
SDPO of Sadar Begusarai, Amit Kumar, said, "The local police of Virpur immediately reached the spot and arrested the accused. He is booked under the POCSO Act. The accused is associated with the private school for three years. We are also investigating whether the accused had made the video clips or not”. “We have asked the school operator to clarify whether they have done the verification of the accused or not,” he said.