Kerala imam accused of sexually abusing teenager held in Madurai; Muslim cleric was on run for last month

Thiruvananthapuram: A Muslim cleric, absconding after an alleged sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl near Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested in Madurai in Tamil Nadu Thursday, police said. [caption id=“attachment_5866081” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] 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 allegedly 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.