Arrest
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A Muslim cleric in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh has been arrested on charges of raping and blackmailing a woman. The cleric has been booked under several sections of the law, bringing back recent memories of a madrasa teacher in Kerala being arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of his students. 

Also read: Anger on social media after 13-year-old gang-raped by 8 teachers for almost 2 years in Bikaner

The accused, identified as Hafiz Aslam, has been arrested from the Chawla village and is currently in police remand. His arrest came following a complaint from the victim and her husband. 

What happened

Alam was reportedly in a physical relationship with this woman a few years ago. He had managed to make a video of they getting intimate in 2013, circle officer Arun Kumar Singh has been quoted as saying by news agencies. 

However, when the woman got married to another man, Alam continued to put pressure on her to resume their physical relationship. When she snubbed him, he reportedly threatened to send the video to her husband.

She refused to relent, and Alam followed through with his threat, sending the video to her husband, according to the police. After getting the video, the woman and her husband approached the police and lodged a complaint against the cleric, who was later picked up by the cops. The police have also registered a case against Alam, booking him for rape and blackmail. 

Last year, a Class 10 student had been raped in the Gurugram district of Uttar Pradesh, and the miscreants had made a video of their act and then tried to blackmail her over it. The ordeal was made all the more worse because she was raped over the course of two days while being held captive in a room.