Mother says offered $8M to settle case against Muslim scholar accused of raping boys

Nezaam Ali

The mother of four of the boys who were allegedly raped by Muslim scholar Nezaam Ali yesterday claimed that she has been offered $8 million by an Islamic organisation to settle the matter.

Ali, called Mufti of 268 Section ‘C’ 5 South Turkeyen, was charged in 2012 with raping nine boys. The charges alleged that between December, 2011 and January, 2012, Ali, being a teacher attached to the Turkeyen Masjid, engaged in sexual activity with the children, abusing a position of trust.

A hearing was scheduled for yesterday at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, where the paper committal proceedings related to the charges against Ali have been reopened after it was discovered that key pieces of documents – birth certificates and medicals –were missing from the files, which has prevented the case from being tried in the High Court. However, the hearing was deferred as presiding Magistrate Alex Moore did not appear.