UP shocker: Madrassa sought ‘virginity certificate’ from 13-year-old for admission; 1 held | Meerut News
MORADABAD: A functionary of a madrassa-run girls’ school in Moradabad was arrested on Friday after the father of a 13-year-old student alleged that the institution had demanded a “virginity certificate” as a condition for his daughter’s admission and misbehaved with the family.Moradabad SP (city) Kumar Ranvijay told TOI, “An FIR has been registered under BNS section 79 (words, gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and the Pocso Act following a complaint. The school admission in-charge, Shah Jahan (in his 40s), has been arrested. This school functions as a madrassa till Class 10 and thereafter follows the UP Board curriculum.”The matter came to light after the girl’s father lodged a complaint with Moradabad SSP, accusing the school administration of harassment, fee embezzlement and character assassination.In his complaint, the student’s father stated: “My daughter was admitted to this madrassa in 2024. She was then promoted to Class 8 in 2025 after paying a total fee of Rs 35,000. When my wife brought her back to the madrassa after a short family visit in July, the school’s admission in-charge and the principal refused to admit my child without a medical test to confirm her virginity. So, we approached the police.”The girl’s father also claimed that when the family opposed the school’s “demand”, the staff members allegedly abused the student’s mother, and manhandled her and forced her to withdraw the child’s name from the school. They also took Rs 500 for issuing a transfer certificate, but neither provided the document nor refunded the amount, he added.The school authorities were unavailable to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, denouncing the school’s “medical test” demand, Farmaan Hasan Khan, national general secretary of Jamaat Raza-e-Mustafa, an organisation which runs several madrassas across the state, said, “Demanding certificates inside madrassas in this manner is inappropriate, and there is no such rule… Such seminaries are not just centres of religious education, but also institutions that nurture social and moral values.“
