73yr religious teacher jailed 16 months for molesting family friend

An Islamic religious teacher, in Singapore, told his female student that she was a victim of black magic and molested the woman in a mosque while trying to “cure” her. The man was then an accredited Islamic teacher under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme administered by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis). He has since […]

An Islamic religious teacher, in Singapore, told his female student that she was a victim of black magic and molested the woman in a mosque while trying to “cure” her.

The man was then an accredited Islamic teacher under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme administered by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis). He has since been struck off the scheme.

The 73-year-old offender was sentenced to a year and four months’ jail on Thursday after pleading guilty last month to a molestation charge.

He cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the woman’s identity.

The 36-year-old victim was a family friend and their families had known each other for more than 10 years.

Sometime in 2015, he had started teaching Quran recitation classes to the woman and her friend every Saturday afternoon in a classroom on the third floor of a mosque in central Singapore. The two women were the only students in that class, the court heard.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhamad Imaduddien told District Judge Carol Ling: “The accused said he treated the victim like a daughter and wanted to help cure her by chasing the jinx away.

“To that end, the accused told the victim to bring a knife and lime to class (the following) week. The accused also told the victim not to tell her family what he had told her.”

The woman did as she was told and went to the mosque with her classmate a week later on August 26, 2017.

During the class, the man rubbed the lime on the victim’s palms and claimed that there was “something” in her that prevented her from conceiving.

He added that he could treat her condition and told her classmate to leave the room.

Once they were alone, the man asked the victim to fully expose her upper body and molested her when she complied.

Soon after, the man called her friend back into the classroom and resumed the lesson.

The man, who is out on $5,000 bail, was ordered to surrender himself at the State Courts on May 15 to begin serving his sentence.

Those convicted of molestation can be jailed for up to two years and fined or caned. The man cannot be caned as he is over 50 years old.