'He pulled down trousers and did terrible things': Pakistani madrasas become hub of sexual violence

A report by public broadcaster France 24 has again thrown light on widespread abuse of children in Pakistani religious schools known as ‘madrasas’. The report says that while these schools claim to provide free religious and Islamic teachings to children from humble backgrounds, a systemic culture of abuse and sexual violence has developed in the shadows.

The report by France 24 mentioned testimonies by several survivors, who revealed how they were “raped” and “abused” by the very clerics who were supposed to teach them religious values.

“All the boys in the village were talking about the risk of being raped in the madrasas … I didn’t think it could happen to me," said a 14-year-old survivor as he talked about how a mullah raped him.

More from World

‘Can’t wait’: Macron says France will ban social media for under-15 in ‘coming months’ Indians in US colleges are in a crisis: One reason is that they have stopped learning

The channel shared a video on the social media platform X, featuring a minor who said the headmaster of his school took him to his house under the pretext of cleaning the house. The boy said that as soon as they reached the place, his teacher came into the room, locked the door, forcibly removed his pants and started assaulting him.

“I got on his motorbike and we left. He came into the room, closed the door and started assaulting me," the boy said. “He pulled down his trousers and took mine off by force. And then he did horrible things to me. I couldn’t stop crying," he added.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

In 2017, news agency Associated Press conducted a major investigation that uncovered numerous cases of sexual abuse within Pakistan’s madrasas.

That report, which utilised police records and interviews with victims, families, clerics, aid workers, and officials, suggested that the actual number of cases might be much higher due to underreporting and silence.

Currently, government data indicates there are at least 17,738 registered madrasas in Pakistan, providing education to approximately 2.2 million children.

However, many more religious schools operate without formal oversight. There is no central authority to regulate these institutions or address allegations of abuse.