HYDERABAD: In the dead of the night, when all the students — aged between 4 and 14 years — were fast asleep, Ustad used to wake up and walk up to youngest of the boys in the next room, and engage in ‘something disgusting’ that they hardly understood. He used to touch them inappropriately in the dark. And to cover it all up, they were threatened with dire consequences. Fear is what was common among these students. The youngest victim was a four-year-old.
Rehan Ansari, the man in question, was not only the maulvi (teacher) but also the caretaker assigned for nights at the Jamia-Uloom-Ud Huda madrassa at Zeba Bagh in Asif Nagar. A native of Bihar, 22-year-old Ansari is currently in jail after being arrested and charged with a case registered under Section 377(unnatural sex), 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code and Section 5 & 6 of POCSO Act. He allegedly sexually abused nine minors, all aged below eight years.
“He was a good teacher and a Hafiz. Don’t know why he did those things in the night,” a 14-year-old from the madrassa told Express on Friday. His eyes almost turn teary when asked about what used to happen in the night. He is one among the 22 boys, all natives of Bihar, who were students of the madrassa. Eighteen of them had left the Arabic school by Thursday. “We both (he and his friend) are leaving by May 10. We will not come back here again,” he said.
Ansari was one among three maulvis in the madrassa. The three-room madrassa on the first floor of a dilapidated building in Zeba Bagh has been operational only for the last two years. Before this, another madrassa used to function from there. “Ustad sleeps in the first room, older boys in the second and younger boys (4-8 years of age) in the third room. He used to sneak into the third room when everyone was asleep and indulge in disgusting acts. Everyone was scared of him,” said another boy.
An elderly man from Madhubani district in Bihar, who works in the nearby tea shop, said: “My two grandsons (aged 4 and 5) study here. I work at the tea shop in the same building and I sleep here in the nights. I have never heard about anything like this and this is totally shocking.”
It was only after some persons at the tea shop noticed the worried students on Sunday night that the matter came to light. Students, aged 4-8 years, told the residents in neighbourhood what was going on in the nights. “Some of these boys have their guardians living in the city. Since they are all workers busy earning a livelihood, they have not paid attention to the boys,” said Saif Balala, an MBA student in the know about the matter.