Pakistan cleric accused of sexually assaulting one of his students, was arrested by a team of the Crime Investigation Agency, along with his two sons during separate raids, officials confirmed.
Dawn reported sons of Mufti Azizur Rehman, Altafur Rehman and Atiqur Rehman, were arrested on charges of threatening the victim of dire consequences for filing a case against their father. Both of them have been booked for criminal intimidation.
Lahore Model Town Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Hasnain Haider, who led the raid in to arrest Rehman, said that the cleric was being brought back to Lahore where he will be prosecuted.
The accused cleric would be presented in court in a day or two, he added.
Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Inam Ghani, while commenting on the arrest, said that police would take it as a "test case".
"[We will] interrogate him, conduct scientific professional investigation, prosecute and get him convicted by the court. We want our kids protected from these child molesters and keep our society safe for our future," he added in a tweet.
The publication further reported that the arrest comes a day after a spokesperson for the Lahore police said that Rehman had "escaped" and that officials were working on tracing the suspect.
Last week, police had registered a case against Rehman after a harrowing video clip of him allegedly sexually assaulting one of his students. The disturbing video stirred up a storm on social media as citizens called for action to be taken against the JUI-F leader.
Meanwhile, Mufti Rehman, in a video message, claimed his innocence and said that the boy in the video had drugged him due to which he was not in his senses.
( With inputs from ANI )
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