The alleged rapist “was arrested today after presenting himself to the police. After an interrogation, he was handed over to the gendarmerie. He was on the run” for several weeks, said a Touba police official, confirming information from the local press.
Touba is a city considered holy by the Mourides, an important Muslim religious brotherhood in Senegal.
The Quranic teacher, whose age was not given, had been missing since the case broke in the first quarter following a complaint from victims who produced medical certificates, the official said.
He is accused of having “raped 27 students in his school in Touba”, says the policeman. The alleged assaults were spread over time, he said without further details. He did not comment on the age of the victims.
The victims are “minors”, which suggests that they were under 15, and the Koranic school, where lessons are given on and around Islam, has been closed, according to the local press.
The affair broke out when one of the girls refused to return to school because the Koranic teacher “had sex with her and all the other girls”, wrote the daily “Le Jour” on May 31.
The affair was rumored a few days before the end of Ramadan 2023. The parents of the young schoolgirls began to express themselves on social networks denouncing Serigne Khadim Mbaké.
Returning to the genesis of the facts, a parent on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals confides to the online daily Pressafrik: “If it was a person whose last name was not Mbacké, justice would have apprehended him a long time ago. We have known about this case since the Sunday before the start of the month of Ramadan. C It was the daughter of a neighbor who spread the word.”
The testimonies of the victims reported by Pressafrik and other Senegalese media are overwhelming.
This case coincides within a few days with the verdict handed down last week against opponent Ousmane Sonko, accused of having raped an employee of a beauty salon in Dakar.
Ousmane Sonko was finally acquitted of the rape charges, but sentenced to two years in prison for having pushed the young woman to attacks on good morals.
The case made headlines for two years. But the issue of sexual violence has been relegated to the background, as the file has been politicized.
The Senegalese Parliament criminalized rape in 2020.
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