Morocco : An imam arrested for the rape of a minor in Ouazzane

Local authorities in the province of Ouazzane arrested on Sunday an imam who is suspected of raping a minor.

Noureddine Othman, head of the local section of the Moroccan League for the Defense of Human Rights, told Arabic-language newspaper Alyaoum24 that the arrest came after a person filed a complaint in Ouazzane, denouncing the rape of her minor son by the imam, for three years.

The same source indicated that the NGO had previously received a complaint on this subject from a relative of the alleged victim and then informed the security services of the case.

Noureddine Othman added that members of the judicial police of the province of Ouazzane heard the alleged victim and then monitored the movements of the suspect, before proceeding to arresting him in a cafe in the town of Ouazzane.

The same source stressed that the association has information indicating that the suspect would have been implicated in several other rapes, taking advantage of his position as imam in a group of mosques of the area.