Pocso case against Muslim cleric for sexual assault of 6-year-old girl

A case has been registered against a Muslim cleric in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapura district under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, for the alleged sexual assault of a six-year-old.

The accused, 31-year-old Mehfooz, who is also a relative of the six-year-old girl, has been arrested.

The crime came to light after the girl’s mother found her coming out of the house of the accused crying. According to the police complaint filed by the mother, the incident happened on May 30.

According to the mother, the victim is her second child, who was lured away by Mehfooz by promising her chocolate. The victim is a Class 1 student at a local Urdu school in Chikkaballapur Town’s Darga Mohalla area.

In her complaint she said that her daughter was playing in front of their house on May 30 at around 6:45 pm, while she was inside. “After a short while, I didn’t see her and went outside to call her to go to the Dargah with me... When I searched around, I saw my daughter coming down the stairs of our neighbour Mehfooz’s house, crying,” the mother stated in the complaint.

The victim then told her that the accused lured the child to his house. He then reportedly took the child into a room where he proceeded to sexually assault the six-year-old.

The police have arrested Mehfooz under various relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023, and the POCSO Act on charges specific to sexual offences against a child.