Kerala Muslim cleric booked for sexually assaulting 15-year-old; accused lured her to Vithura forest, says police

Thiruvananthapuram: A Muslim cleric was booked on Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in Kerala, police said. “Shafeeq Al Qasimi, who was serving as the Imam of a rural mosque at Tholicode in Vithura, over 30 km away from Thiruvananthapuram, was removed after the incident came to light,” they said. [caption id=“attachment_4675261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] A case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered against him based on the mosque committee’s statement. According to the statement, he had lured a 15-year-old girl to an isolated forest area in Vithura and allegedly sexually assaulted her last week. The incident came to light after a group of local women confronted the cleric after seeing him with the school-going girl in the forest. “An FIR was registered as per the statement of the mosque committee,” a police official said, adding that the victim or her family was yet to file a formal complaint. “Qasimi was removed as Imam of the mosque after the issue surfaced,” police added.