Belagavi: Cleric arrested for alleged rape of minor in mosque
Belagavi (Karnataka), Aug 6 (PTI) A 22-year-old cleric Tufail Ahmed Nagarchi was arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl inside a mosque two years ago here, police said on Wednesday.
The alleged incident occurred on October 5, 2023, but came to light on August 5, 2025, after a right-wing activist posted about it on social media, including a recorded phone conversation with the girl's parents.
In the post, the activist claimed that mosque authorities had threatened the girl's father to prevent him from reporting the incident to police or discussing it publicly.
A senior police officer stated that the Belagavi police's social media monitoring unit noticed the activist's post and initiated an investigation.
Police located the girl's parents, who confirmed the incident but were reluctant to file a complaint.
The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) was informed, and based on their complaint, a case was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused was subsequently arrested, police added.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
