Mosque tutor accused of abusing girls

Published on Thursday 20 November 2008 09:09

TWO women have told a court that they were sexually abused by a teacher at a mosque when they were children.

The pair – now both 19 – claimed they were regularly attacked by Mahmood Qadri at Edinburgh's Polwarth Mosque while learning the Koran.

One of them alleged she was indecently assaulted "every day" she was in Qadri's company.

The 60-year-old, a prisoner at Saughton, is on trial accused of abusing one woman, referred to as Miss X, between January 1, 1995 and September 30, 1998.

He is also charged with abusing another, Miss Y, between January 16, 1997 and September 30, 1998.

Miss X told the High Court in Glasgow that Qadri attacked her in a bedroom at the mosque. She denied lying about him, although she did admit that when she told a teacher at her school about the alleged abuse, she initially claimed to have been raped.

Miss Y later claimed she was also abused in the bedroom.

Qadri denies the charges. The trial, before Judge John Morris QC, continues.