Woman ‘broke down as she told of sex assaults’
AWOMAN broke down in tears as she confided in a friend that her mosque teacher indecently assaulted her as a child, a court heard.
Mohammed Sadiq, who taught at Madina Mosque in Cardiff for more than three decades, denies 15 counts of indecent and sexual assault and is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
The allegations involve four alleged victims and relate to the period between 1996 and 2006.
On day four of the hearing the second complainant’s friend was called to give evidence.
She told the jury they met as teenagers and became “really close friends”.
The woman said: “We used to sit and talk. One day, she told me she used to go to mosque and the teacher put his hand under her clothing breasts.”
Asked about how often her friend claimed that happened, she replied: “There were a lot of times when he did that.”
She said her friend told her she was in primary school at the time of the alleged incidents.
Questioned about her friend’s demeanour, she said: “She started crying.”
Counts five, six and seven relate to the second complainant.
Opening the case, prosecutor Suzanne Thomas said: “She described being invited to sit next to the defendant to read, then he would put his hand down her top. and touched her
“This happened every time she went to the class.”
Giving evidence in court, the alleged victim said: “I was embarrassed and scared and felt like it was only happening to me.”
During an interview conducted in June last year, she told police she used to go to the mosque in Woodville Road every day after school.
She stated: “The teacher would touch me inappropriately.”
She told the jury the defendant was “forceful” and it was “painful”.
The final alleged victim is due to give her evidence in court today.
Sadiq, 81, from Lake Road East in Cyncoed, Cardiff, denies eight counts of indecent assault and seven of sexual assault.
The trial continues.