This was what most of the young boys were told after a whole night's ordeal. The Kashmiri Maulvi, a paedophile and a sex maniac had many more excuses to frighten the underage boys. Also known as Peer Aliaz Sheikh, the maulvi has left an indelible mark on his alleged victims who were often exploited in front of other boys.
Incidentally, the underage boys did not have any option but to follow the peer because their families had blind faith in him. The children he raped were so naive that they often believed that they would become pregnant or would be suffering from sexually transmitted diseases. Moreover, some of the rape survivors have also developed medical complications after being sodomised.
Despite that, the Maulvi is out on bail and the next hearing is on September 27.
What he did
Raping boys was projected as a ritual to ward off evil by the maulvi. He allegedly 'invoked' the power of Djinns who would come and rid the boys of evil. Now, survivor narratives tell us the truth as to what he actually did.
According to a report by India Today, a teen victim alleged, "I was 11-year-old when my uncle took me to Aijaz Sheikh. I was sexually abused several times. One night, there were around 10-11 children in the age group of 11 to 14 at his house. He forced us to perform sexual acts from evening until next morning. He used to watch us and would then decide to rape the most attractive boys present there."
Another victim narrated a similar horrendous story of the Sheikh performing sexual activities with boys in front of other boys. Unable to forget the night with the Maulvi, another teen said, "Once, he sexually abused me to the extent that I fell down on the ground and was badly hurt."
Here comes the saddest part where the child reveals how he felt after the assault, "I was so innocent that I asked myself what if I get pregnant? What am I going to tell my parents if that happens? For years to come, I feared that I might have also contracted some STDs. Having come out against the accused makes me feel scared for my life."
Speaking to India Today, one such victim who had been raped for four years at a stretch said, "I was forced to drop out from school as I had to oblige the Peer's demands. I miss school. Wish I had never gone there. I want to go back to school and finish my studies."
The Maulvi would tell his followers to bring him a child below 12-years of age and made the child spend the night with him.
Also a teacher of Quran, the peer's activities allegedly date back to the era when he taught at school. He said, "I was in Class 4 when I met the Peer. One day he took me to his leisure house in Dangerpora. He would tell his followers to bring a child aged 12 or below, and let the child to spend the night with him."
Narrating a story that he was given by the Maulvi, he further said, "When I was there he told me that I had to sleep in his room, for which I would get money. Soon I found his dark side. He would rape me while pretending to be possessed by jinn. But one day, he mistakenly exposed himself to me and then I realised that I was being abused. I got angry on hearing this and gathered courage to threaten him."
The unavailability of POCSO Act in Jammu and Kashmir adds to the woes of the children. While the matters are still in court, the victims are denied a sensitive approach to the case. The children have no support from the authorities, do not have any means of compensation and no way of having a speedy trial.
Child rights' activist and advocate Anant Asthana said, "Good thing in POCSO Act is that it not only takes in account the vulnerabilities of victims but also takes cognisance if criminals are the persons who hold authority, influence or dominance over the child in any manner. May be not the entire POCSO Act but a substantial part of it, which strengthens a child victim of sexual offence, must be legislated in J&K. It brings in focus that victims of sexual offences can also be a male child and it is as horrendous as rape of a female child."
Speaking to India Today, he further said, "In fact, we need to think of bringing a law better than POCSO because circumstances of children in J&K are much more difficult and complicated. We need to pay more attention on aspects of maintaining absolute privacy of children, more effective measures for protection of victims and witnesses and increased financial allocations for rehabilitation of victims of sexual offences."