Lahore court grants bail to Pakistani cleric's sons in student sexual assault case

A sessions court in Pakistan's Lahore on Tuesday granted interim bail to three sons of Pakistani cleric and former Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Mufti Azizur Rehman till June 30 in connection with a sexual assault case of a student.

The court sought a record of the case from the police till the next date of hearing. Additional District and Sessions Judge Nauman Muhammad Naeem heard the bail applications of Latifur Rehman, Waseemur Rehman and Wasiur Rehman, sons of Mufti Azizur Rehman, reported Geo News.

A counsel for the petitioners argued before the court that his clients did not have any link to the case and pleaded with the court to grant bail to them.

At this, the court restrained the police from arresting the petitioners till June 30 and sought a record of the case from it.

A day after the arrest from Mianwali along with his sons, Mufti Azizur Rehman had confessed to sexually assaulting a student during interrogation, police informed.

Speaking to Dawn, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) investigations Shariq Jamal Khan said that the cleric had confessed that the incident's video, which went viral on social media a few days ago, had featured him and was secretly filmed by the student who was being sexually abused.

"I made the student a target of my lust with the lure of passing him [in his exams]," he admitted to the police.

"I released the video statement because I did not want to leave the madrassah. The madrassah administration had already told me to leave," the DIG quoted him as saying. "I am very ashamed at what I did," he added.

Last week, police had registered a case against Rehman after a harrowing video clip of him allegedly sexually assaulting one of his students was widely shared on social media.

The student had said Rehman sexually abused him, while the cleric's sons started blackmailing and threatening to kill him.

The incident sparked outrage on social media, with many calling for the former JUI-F leader to be arrested. Pakistan's civil society members are questioning the silence of religious parties after police arrested the cleric for sexually assaulting one of his students.

On Twitter, #muftiazizurrehman was among the top trends in Pakistan on Thursday with netizens calling for action against the JUI-F cleric and criticising religious parties for their silence on the incident.

( With inputs from ANI )

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