Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 13 (IBNS): A Muslim cleric was booked on Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor in Kerala, media reports said.
The accused has been identified as Shafeeq Al Qasimi.
The police said Qasimi served as the Imam of a rural mosque at Tholicode in Vithura before the incident came to light.
He has now been removed from the position.
According to reports, the case against the cleric was registered at the Vithura police station in Nedumangad, Thiruvananthapuram, on the basis of a complaint by Badusha, president of the Tholicode Muslim Mosque.
A case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered against the cleric, media reports said .
After the incident came to light, he was suspended from the Kerala Imam’s council.
“We have not yet filed an FIR. We just received the complaint and hence have not updated the sections,” officers from the Vithura police station told The News Minute.
Speaking to TNM, Thiruvananthapuram Rural SP P Ashok Kumar said: “A suo motu case can only be taken by the police if an officer is witness to the said crime. In this case, no police officers have witnessed it and hence we cannot act on our cognisance.”
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