An Imam from Cardiff has been jailed for 13 years for sexually touching four young girls during Quran lessons at a mosque. A jury at Cardiff Crown Court heard Mohammed Haji Saddique, 81, of sexually touching girls in front of his class and repeatedly slapping children if they made mistakes during lessons. Saddique was found guilty of 14 offences, six indecent assaults and eight sexual assaults, all that took place between 1996 and 2006.
Judge Stephen Hopkings QC sentenced him for 13 years and ordered him to register as a sex offender indefinitely. He said, “All four complainants were very brave indeed in overcoming not only personal but cultural barriers which they faced in making formal complaints and giving evidence against you. There is a darker, deviant side to you which this trial has exposed. This was a gross breach of trust- parents sending their young, female children to be taught the Quran by you,” the Judge said. He said Saddique, who insisted the allegations were a conspiracy by other members of the mosque has “no idea” of the harm caused by his actions.
The convict was a member of the Madina Mosque and was involved in running it, also playing the treasurer and teacher teaching Q studies to primary pupils. The classes were held four times a week after school and he was called “Uncle Saddique”, the court heard. The first investigation was launched in 2006 after two girls placed complaints. While the accused denied any wrongdoing, enquiries took pace in 2016 after two other girls came forward. Saddique would touch the girls under their traditional loose-fitting clothing and rub them against his groin and legs. The judge read out victim impact statements to the court, in which the girls, who are in their 20s now, spoke of lasting implications of his actions.
Reading out one, the Judge said, “It has put her off religion, she deliberately doesn't own a Quran. (For her), the ethos of going to the mosque at any time is that when you are there, God is protecting you. Her idea was shattered because you abused her when she was reading from the holy book.”
“You would attempt to maintain discipline and concentration by tapping or slapping the child sitting next to you who didn't read correctly,” the Judge said. “Every time one of these small children made a mistake you would slap them until they got it right and slap them for every mistake they made.”
