LAHORE: A local court in Lahore indicted Mufti Aziz-ur-Rehman, the cleric accused of of sexually abusing a student of his madressah, and his two sons in the case on Monday.
According to details, the accused were produced in front of the judicial magistrate Rana Rashid surrounded by police personnel. The accused pleaded not guilty to the felony and opted to contest the charges.
Summoning witnesses and in the case, the court adjourned the hearing till October 18. Punjab police had arrested the cleric for molesting the student. The 70-year-old was booked after a video of him sexually assaulting the student went viral on social media platforms.
On June 16, police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the cleric on the survivor’s complaint. Later, the cleric confessed to the crime, saying, “The video of molestation is of me; I made a mistake and I’m embarrassed about it.”
He had further stated that the “student videotaped the occurrence out of my knowledge,” adding, “When I found out about the video I told him to not disseminate it”.
“He made the video viral despite that I had warned him. After it went viral, my sons called him out and threatened him with consequences,” the cleric added.
The cleric had been on the run after being booked on sexual assault charges. The charges came after the assault survivor released footage of the cleric molesting him.
