SEX IN THE MOSQUE
Man narrates his mosque visit ordeal It’s a matter between two people - Botswana Muslim Association
An Imam or prayer leader at the Mahalapye Mosque, Zaid Patham, has skipped the country after his attempted sodomy episode was exposed by his local Arabic student.
In an exclusive interview with The Voice, Thuso Batona, 52, has accused Patham of sexual harassment, which took place inside the mosque and on his smart phone, which he claims was bombarded with unwanted d and unsolicited obscene nudes udes and text messages from the Imam.
Narrating the shocking details of what t the Botswana Muslim Association sociation had come short of dismissing as “an affair between ween the two adults,” Batona a said that on August 26th, he e visited the Mahalapye mosque sque for the first time to enquire nquire about learning Arabic. c.
He said that while at the mosque, he was told that for one to learn the language, he must first attend Islam classes and convert to the religion. He was then introduced to Patham, who asked him to come in the afternoon for lessons, which he did.
“On arrival, we went to the library where he took me through introduction to Arabic and asked for my phone number with a promise to send more learning material as we progressed.”
Batona said he was happy with his first day lesson, but was caught off guard when Patham pulled a nasty surprise on him by displaying signs of romantic affection towards him. “He told me how he loved me and that we should date. I was shocked and told him that it was my first time to hear a man saying that to another man.”
He said that Patham, however, told him not to worry as both were going to enjoy, but before he could even process the whole drama, Patham had grabbed him by the balls. “I managed to quickly back off and shouted at him to stop as
I controlled myself not to beat him because I knew I would be accused of attempted robbery or something like that if I assaulted him because it was only the two of us in the mosque at the time.”
Batona has insisted that his protests did not deter Patham from persisting as he kept making advances towards him and told him that if he was serious about being a Muslim, he must sleep with him or forget about being accepted.
At that stage, Batona said that Patham told him of ‘ wudu’ (a washing ritual to be performed in preparation for prayer and worship) and showed him pictures in the building which he said were in support of his homosexuality story.
“Patham even explained that the reason why men bath their manhood and rectum at the church toilet before any prayer session is so that they could be ready and clean when called for sex. It made sense to me because washing ourselves is what we did on arrival. The rest of the body parts like face, arms and head, we washed in public, only private parts are done in the toilets,” he narrated.
Batona said that at that point he was getting afraid for himself so he hurriedly left the Mosque but, before he could even reach his house, Patham had already sent him a picture of his manhood and another one of men sucking each other’s manhood saying it was a 69 or 69ing sex position, which he promised to teach him once he agreed to be his lover. The messages, Batona alleged, were followed by more nudes. Feeling harassed and insulted, Batona quickly reported the Imam to both the Mahalapye mosque and to the Botswana Muslim Association (BMA), and BMA in turn alerted the police.
The Deputy Chairperson of Botswana Muslim Association
“He told me how he loved me and that we should date. I was shocked and told him that it was my first time to hear a man saying that to another man.”
(BMA), Yusuf Dada, confirmed that he received the report and highlighted that Islam religion and the association should not be dragged into the Imam’s scandal .
“We have looked into this matter and, honestly, we believe it is a personal matter between two individuals. There is nothing much we can do as BMA since you and our Mahalapye committee have already taken this matter before the police. Our Mahalapye committee is ready and available to assist you and the police with information that can help with investigations,” Dada said in a statement on Wednesday.
Dada further rubbished allegations that the mosque helped the suspect to skip the country, saying he ran away on his own after learning of the report laid against him at the police “We don’t know where he is,” said Dada.
Meanwhile, District No16, Officer Commanding Senior Superintendent, Reuben Mphoeng, said that the matter has indeed reached his office but not as a criminal case but the two parties came to him for arbitration. “People from the mosque asked to meet with Batona and I facilitated that, no one opened a case and they left,” said the police boss.