Saeed Tousi is one of Iran’s most revered Koran reciters and has many students
Source: BBC
Child sex abuse allegations involving one of Iran’s best-known Koran reciters are causing shock and anger in the country, days after several accusers took the unprecedented step of going public with the claims.
The alleged victims and their families told BBC Persian that they had decided to speak out after failing to get justice through official channels.Saeed Tousi, 46, who has ties to both the religious and political elite, faces accusations that he assaulted 10 boys, all Koran students from religious families.
Mr Tousi has strongly denied the claims, which surfaced last week when some of the alleged victims took the unusual step of telling their stories to the foreign media.
One of the accusers described to the BBC an assault which he said took place in a public bath house when he was 12 years old.
“I was so shocked I couldn’t understand what was going on,” he said. “I was so afraid to say anything because of the shame it would bring upon my name, but then I found out that there were so many other cases among his students. So I broke my silence.”
Nation of Loot?