SRINAGAR: Police in Kashmir have arrested a fake dervish who allegedly raped young girls on the pretext of ‘purifying’ them, sources say.
Gulzar Ahmed Bhat, who went by the name ‘Syed Gulzar’, ran a residential institution for girls which offered a two-months course in Islamic studies in Khansahib area of Budgam district.
Sources say four students, all aged under 18, complained to the police that he indulged in sexual activities with them at the hostel.
According to the girls, the fake dervish would quote sayings in Arabic to justify his sexual activity with them.
“He would tell them that having sex with him was necessary to purify them of all evil,” a police officer told Freepress.
He said medical examination of the girls confirmed rape. Gulzar has been booked under section 376 of Ranbir Penal Code (rape).
‘Syed Gulzar’, who often gave advertisements in newspapers claiming to be a Sufi, also delivered sermons through local cable TV network in the valley.
Moulvi Muhammad Amin, the whistleblower in this case, says the fake preacher would manipulate verses of the Quran to motivate the girls into sex. He alleges that Gulzar has so far raped nearly 200 girls at the hostel.
“He would tell them that he receives divine knowledge and that all the earlier saints had prayed for his birth,” Amin, who is the president of the International Khatm-e-Nabuwat Movement (J-K chapter), told Freepress.
Amin has appealed to “all innocent people not to fall prey to these illiterate, fake religious men.”
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