Ustaz Kazim to help police on molest claim at his school

kazim IPOH: Islamic preacher Mohd Kazim Elias, better known as Ustaz Kazim, says he will fully cooperate with police in the investigation into alleged molestation and unnatural sex at his tahfiz school, here.

Mohd Kazim, who is the founder and principal of Pusat Pendidikan Al Barakah, said he and the school administration would not compromise in the case and would hand over the culprit to police if the allegations were proven true.

“This is our responsibility as Muslims and as good citizens,” he said at a press conference, where he denied the allegations and the claim that he had made a threatening statement to the parents of the alleged victim.

The popular preacher said he had documents containing statements of witnesses and video recordings, including that of the meeting with the pupil’s parents as well as letters related to the case which would all be handed over to his lawyer.

He said the tahfiz school had conducted an internal investigation during the mid-year term break and found that the incidents alleged to have occurred in April never took place.

“As an independent speaker, I have often been condemned, defamed and provoked but I’ve accepted all these with an open heart. However, this issue does not only involve my reputation but also the good name of Islam, the school and its young students,” he said.

“The student (who made the allegation) was never expelled but he stopped schooling here on July 11 after his parents decided he should and it was never mentioned that he had been molested and so on.

“I thought the matter was resolved after the meeting with the pupil and the accused, who said the alleged molestation and sodomy incidents did not take place.

Mohd Kazim said the 10-year-old pupil who made the allegations had disciplinary issues and had received three warning letters from the school.

He said for safety reasons, the school had installed closed-circuit television cameras all over its premises, including in the hostels, hence there was no room for such alleged incidents to occur.

According to him, the hostel for pupils aged 12 and below was also separated from that of the older students.

Mohd Kazim said he would be lodging a police report over the allegations at the Ipoh district police headquarters this evening, and was also considering taking legal action over the allegations.

The recent allegations that a number of new students at the tahfiz school had been molested and sodomised, had gone viral via WhatsApp.

On Wednesday, Perak police chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi said they had recorded statements from 10 individuals, including a number of students, the complainant and school staff.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 377E of the Penal Code, which provided for a jail term of up to five years and whipping.