A Senegalese Quranic teacher suspected of raping 27 of his schoolgirls in Touba was arrested on Monday (June 5th) in this city in the center of the country after several weeks of fleeing, a police official told AFP.
The alleged rapist "was arrested today after presenting himself to the police. After an interrogation, he was placed at the disposal of the gendarmerie. He had been on the run" for several weeks, said the 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.
School closure
The Quranic teacher, whose age was not indicated, had been missing since the case broke in the first trimester following a complaint from victims who produced medical certificates, the official said. He is accused of "raping 27 students at his school in Touba," he said. The alleged assaults were spread over time, he said without elaborating. He did not comment on the age of the victims. The victims are "minors," suggesting they were under 15, and the Koranic school, where it teaches about and around Islam, has been closed, according to local media. The case broke when one of the girls refused to return to school because the Quranic teacher "had sex with her and all the other girls," the daily "Le Jour" wrote on May 31.
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This case coincides a few days with the verdict rendered last week against the opponent Ousmane Sonko, accused of raping an employee of a beauty salon in Dakar. Ousmane Sonko was finally acquitted of rape charges, but sentenced to two years in prison for having pushed the young woman to indecency. The case made headlines for two years. But the issue of sexual violence has been relegated to the background, as the issue has been politicized. The Senegalese parliament criminalized rape in 2020.
