Mufti Aziz confesses to molesting seminary student

(Karachi) Mufti Aziz-ur-Rehman, who was arrested for sexually assaulting a seminary student, confessed to the crime, police transpired on Monday.

In his confessional statement, the cleric said, "The video of molestation is of me. I made a mistake and I'm embarrassed about it."

Mufti Aziz added that the student videotaped the incident without his knowledge and when he found out about the video, he asked him to not disclose it to anyone.

"He made the video viral despite the fact I had warned him about it. After it went viral, my sons called him out and threatened him of consequences," the cleric revealed.

Meanwhile, the cleric was presented before the Cantt court, the police said. During the proceedings, the police requested the court for physical remand of the cleric.

The court, in response, granted the permission to carry out a four-day physical remand of the accused, while also ordering a DNA test and medical examination.

Police nab culprit

On June 20, Lahore police arrested former JUI leader Mufti Azizur Rehman from Mianwali for his involvement in sexually abusing a seminary student. The arrest comes days after a video went viral on social media in which Rehman could be seen molesting his student.

The police said that Mufti Aziz was arrested along with one of his sons during a raid in Mianwali. The victim, who had been enrolled in Jamia Manzoorul Islamia since 2013, had registered a case against the cleric at North Cantt Police Station in Lahore.

Victim's statement

In his statement to the police, the victim stated that Rehman used to molest and blackmail him. He added that despite bringing the matter to the knowledge of the madrassa administration, nothing was done to punish the accused.

He said that the cleric's son also hurled life threats at him for putting up the video of the incident on social media.

Allegations denied

Earlier, Aziz had denied the accusation of sexual abuse in a video statement and claimed that he was drugged by his student before he was filmed. The cleric had claimed that the videos were a conspiracy to remove him from Jamia Manzoorul Islamia, Lahore.

Later, taking action over the incident, the madrassa administration terminated Rehman while the JUI-F suspended his party membership.