CENTRAL NEWS
Another child testified against the leader of the Usşaki order Eyüp Fatih Şağban, also knwon as Fatih Nurullah, for sexual abuse. The rapist leader was already on trial for the abuse and sexual harassment of another child the same age.
The sexual abuse which was setted in a lodge in Sakarya’s Akyazı district has sparked outcry as the hundreds of cases of sexual abuse against children by Imams at the government-run Imam Hatip Schools, continue to be unveiled.
İmam Hatip schools are ‘education institutions’ or formal Islamification centres of the Turkish government which were founded in lieu of a vocational school to train government employed imams; after madrasas in Turkey were abolished by the Unification of Education Act as a part of “Atatürk’s reforms”.
The newest victim of the Imam Hatip rape scandals, a little girl, described the horror she was subjected to in detail.
The ‘Dervish’ house
The testimony of a 12-year-old girl who had been abused constantly by the leader of the Usşaki order Eyüp Fatih Şağban, or Fatih Nurullah, has been obtained. The girl who was born in 2008, was a 7th grade student of the Imam Hatip school in Istanbul.
The child explained in her statement that she went to the house of the ‘dervish’ in Sakarya with her family in July. Explaining that her father was a plumber and that they went here to maintain the 3-storey house, the child said that she also helped out by preparing and serving tea.
The child stated the following: “He asked for tea between 20.30-21.00 on the day of the incident and I took it to him. He said to me, “Everybody comes in after knocking on the door, you can enter without knocking”. Then he asked for some more things. I went downstairs to bring what he wanted. I went up again. There was no one but us upstairs. He kissed me on my lips without saying anything. I didn’t react to him, didn’t say anything. Because I was scared ”, the girl explained that Eyüp Fatih Şağban kissed her every time she went to his floor and that he warned her not to tell her mother and father.
He paid me 100 TL to stay silent
The 12-year-old child, who explained the abuse she suffered in details, said that the harasser warned after raping her that “these events will remain between us, it will be shame if the people find out.”
The girl explained that she opened the door that she had locked upon the request of the rapist, and went to her mother and cried. “My mother asked what happened but I did not explain at that time. I made up something else,” she said.
Explaining the endless harassment, the little girl continued to explain as follows:
“I did not tell them about these incidents because my mother had cancer at that time, so that she would not be upset, and my father was also busy. Fatih threatened me not to tell anyone about these events. He gave me 100 TL on the day the first event occurred. He said he gave it to me as a gift. But he gave it to me to be quiet. ”
Another child
According to the testimony of the little child, the so-called sheikh harassed another 10-year-old girl in the lodge.
“People who came to the house to ask for prayers would enter this persons room collectively but also separately as men and women. I used to go to Fatih with my mother and friends. He would kiss me on my cheek or lip every time I entered. My mother and her friends also saw this. My mother would not react to these actions because she saw this person as a friend of Allah and thought that harm would not come. ”
Endless rape scandals in Imam Hatip Schools
Only months ago, another Imam Hatip pervert was found to have constantly raped children in the Adıyaman branch of the government’s Islamification centres. The officer who sexually abused and raped 18 boys in the dormitory of Adıyaman Imam Hatip Secondary School, abused some children by sleeping next to them at night or evacuating the dormitory on weekends for ‘cleaning.’ He kept the children he would rape in the dormitory. He raped some children in the boiler room or sink, and even took some home in February 2015, either individually or in groups of several people. During this period, it was understood that he harassed the students by hand, forced them to watch porn movies, accustomed them to smoking, threatened and beat them.
Several years ago, another case in which Arabic teacher Y.D. in the Akçaabat Imam Hatip High School, repeatedly raped a 17-year-old female student, and then attempted to conduct a “Muta wedding”. Imam Hatip high school administrators pressured the girl to hide and cover up the rape which they were aware of.
In 2014, the Directorate of Religious Affairs in Kars raped his 23-year-old sister.
