A Sunni hardliner jailed after bullying & beating pupils in over 100 physical assaults during Islamic studies

A Sunni hardliner and seminary teacher who beat his pupils “until it became normalized” has been jailed for 17 months after CCTV footage revealed up to 109 assaults on children attending his Islamic study classes in a Rochdale mosque.

A Sunni hardliner and seminary teacher who beat his pupils “until it became normalized” has been jailed for 17 months after CCTV footage revealed up to 109 assaults on children attending his Islamic study classes in a Rochdale mosque.

Father-of-five Abdul Rauf, 51, admitted on Monday to two charges of causing actual bodily harm against two children aged 10 and 12, as well as 19 assaults on unidentified children.

Some 40 hours of footage analyzed by Greater Manchester Police officers show “consistent assaults” at the hands of the imam in a mosque on Crawford Street.