“It is the hypocrisy of some of these mullahs, who wear the long beard and take on the cloak of piety only to do these horrible acts behind closed doors, while openly they criticize those who are clean shaven, who are liberal and open minded,” Baloch said. Most often, when a family forgives the cleric the investigation ends because the charges are dropped. Overcome by shame and fear that the stigma of being sexually abused will follow a child into adulthood, families choose instead to drop the charges, he said. They have been able to hide the widespread abuse by accusing victims of blasphemy or defamation of Islam.įamilies in Pakistan are often coerced into “forgiving” clerics, said Deputy Police Superintendent Sadiq Baloch, speaking in his office in the country’s northwest, toward the border with Afghanistan. Religious clerics are a powerful group in Pakistan and they close ranks when allegations of abuse are brought against one of them.

Yet despite the dozens of reports, none have resulted in the conviction of a cleric. Police say the problem of sexual abuse of children by clerics is pervasive and the scores of police reports they have received are just the tip of the iceberg. The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has promised to modernize the curriculum and make the madrassas more accountable, but there is little oversight. Nor is there a central authority that can investigate or respond to allegations of abuse by clerics, unlike the Catholic Church, which has a clear hierarchy topped by the Vatican. There is no central body of clerics that governs madrassas. They are typically started by a local cleric in a poor neighborhood, attracting students with a promise of a meal and free lodging. But there are many more religious schools that are unregistered. There are more than 22,000 registered madrassas in Pakistan, teaching more than 2 million children. The alleged victims who spoke for this story did so with the understanding only their first names would be used. The AP also documented cases of abuse through interviews with law enforcement officials, abuse victims and their parents.

An investigation by The Associated Press found dozens of police reports, known here as First Information Reports, alleging sexual harassment, rape and physical abuse by Islamic clerics teaching in madrassas or religious schools throughout Pakistan, where many of the country’s poorest study.

Old man with boys sex pakistani video