Over the years, we’ve covered a lot of child abuse by pastors and priests. It’s an almost daily occurrence, so much so that the phrase “youth pastor arrested for molestation” has become a bit of a meme these days. Because Christianity is so dominant in our society, we forget that other religions have the same tradition of molesting their flock, and protecting their abusers.  Take for instance a recent story out of India. A 25 year old madrassa teacher was arrested after he was accused of “sodomizing” almost a dozen students (that we know about). They also arrested the trustee, who had not only failed to take any action to report the abuse, but he also helped the teacher to flee when word came that police were going to arrest him. Both had tried to flee when the accusations were made, but they were eventually apprehended.

The whole affair came to light after one of the students was brave enough to do something about the abuse.

The offence came to light after one of the students of the residential school called his mother using the mobile phone of another maulana a few days back and complained about the teacher’s sexual gestures and acts with students, the police statement said.

It’s a reminder that only the courage of victims will finally stop these religious organizations from providing shelter, aid, and a fertile ground for their depravity. As the stigma of abuse sheds, I have no doubt that there will be more stories of this kind. Here’s hoping that the victims get some form of justice in all of this.