SINGAPORE — Just before he was about to start a Quranic recitation class at his flat, a 66-year-old Islamic religious teacher kissed his eight-year-old female student.

The girl’s father lodged a police report shortly after, saying that the teacher had kissed her on her cheeks and lips, while only kissing her younger brother’s cheek when they exchanged greetings.

The teacher, or ustaz, was sentenced to six weeks’ jail on Monday (March 16) in a district court. 

He had pleaded guilty in October last year to one count of committing an indecent act with a child, with another similar charge taken into consideration for sentencing.

He cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect the victim’s identity.

In mitigation, his lawyer Rajan Nair argued that his client did not know at the time that it was indecent to kiss the girl on the lips.

However, District Judge Teo Guan Kee noted that the teacher “now accepts” that it was an offence under the Children and Young Persons Act.

While the prosecution sought two months’ jail, the judge reduced the sentence on account of that.

Last year, Mr Rajan told the court that his client had taught recitation classes free of charge since 1991. He stopped doing so after being charged in court.

The court heard that he was an accredited Islamic teacher under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme and conducted the classes at his flat on at least three evenings every week.

In a statement on Monday, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said that he had been suspended since January last year. Offenders are automatically taken off the scheme and are no longer allowed to teach Quranic or Islamic classes here.

“Muis and the Asatizah Recognition Board take a serious stance on cases of this nature, and will not hesitate to take action to ensure that the safety and welfare of the public, in particular our children, are safeguarded. No individual should be allowed to abuse his or her position of authority or influence as a religious teacher,” Muis added.

The girl, who was in Primary 3 at the time, had been attending the classes twice a week since 2017 with her younger brother.

The family’s domestic helper would accompany the two siblings there.

Sometime in 2018, the girl noticed that the ustaz would kiss both of them on both sides of their cheeks after they kissed his hand out of respect.

In January 2019, the two siblings arrived early at his flat for a recitation class. The ustaz kissed her on the lips after pecking her on the cheeks, then told her not to tell anybody what had happened.

Nevertheless, she told her mother about it as she was afraid “something more may happen to her”, Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhamad Imaduddien told the court.

In passing sentence, District Judge Teo said that there were “elements of abuse of trust and religious authority”.

For performing an indecent act on a child, the ustaz could have been jailed up to five years or fined up to S$10,000, or both. He will begin serving his sentence on Wednesday as Mr Rajan said he needs time to settle some family matters.