According to a report from ABC 6, a Philadelphia mosque is currently being under investigation after a victim told the authorities that she was forced to marry at the young age of 14.
The unnamed now 17-year old victim claimed that she was forcibly married to a man named Rajmann Sanders at the Masjid Uthman Dan Fodiyo mosque, where the man both sexually abused her and her 10-year old sister. She also reported that she was a “virgin” and her marriage to the man did not last.
"At the time I was a virgin. It was going to be my first marriage of course," she said.
“The 10-year-old was not handled correctly and everything was swept under the rug. Not only was it wrong, it was wrong to me because at the time I was still his wife,” she continued.
After the Facebook video of the victim’s testimony surfaced online, the police authorities arrested and charged Sanders with rape, indecent assault and other sexual offenses including forcible compulsion. Sanders also allegedly threatened to shoot the victim during one assault.
Another victim then came forward and told them that she was also illegally married at the said mosque, located at the 4800 blocks of Paschall.
“This is not healthy for me or my kids. No one should want their kids around this, especially with the pedophilia, that should be enough to say no I don’t want my kids around this,” the victim said. She also wants the children in the nearby areas to know about the incident so that it will not happen again.
Sanders’s public defender is unreachable at the moment but it is confirmed that the suspect remains behind bars.
Investigations on the said mosque are also ongoing as of now, but all the victims are in safe hands and are currently at the Department of Human Services for protective custody.
Sources: 6 ABC
