Horrific allegations have been brought against a Florida teacher from girls entrusted to his care. The educator allegedly abused one of the children so badly that she required surgical repair. Then, he seemingly vanished into thin air.
Tariq Ahmad (also spelled Ahmed) is the now-former head teacher of Nur-Ul-Islam Academy, an Islamic masjid for kindergarten-through-12-grade students with an enrollment of approximately 335 children in Florida. Ahmad lost his position after being accused of sexually abusing and raping two of his middle school students. Further shocking the community, before the teacher’s tenure at Nur-Ul-Islam Academy, the accused rapist worked for the Broward County Public School District.
The 35-year-old man was charged with five first degree counts after he left one of the girls so injured that she had to have “substantial surgical repair” for damage done to her sexual organs by her former teacher, a lawsuit alleges. But, before he was arrested on the charges stemming from the alleged sexual assault, Ahmad disappeared, leaving police on a hunt to find the former educator.
“The girls were aged 14 and 15 when Ahmad allegedly forced them into sexual relationships, according to a lawsuit. Their attorneys said [Ahmad] would use text messages, social media and even code on the chalkboards in the classroom to set up meetings with the girls,” Daily Mail reported.
The lawsuit further claims that one of the unidentified victims was a student at the school and was abused by Ahmed “on school grounds, during school hours” with the initial assault took place in the school’s mosque, according to Broward Palm Beach New Times. Daily Mail further reported, “They also claim the Academy officials knew of [Ahmad’s] illegal conduct for years and did nothing until now.”
Tariq Ahmad went on the run from police after the allegations that he raped two middle school girls emerged. After the civil lawsuit was filed by the two girls who claim to have been sexually abused by Ahmad, a third victim came forward. Of course, the school denied the allegations that they knew anything about the incidents, but they did eventually terminate the missing teacher’s employment.
“Recently, we have become aware of disturbing allegations regarding a former teacher of Nur-ul-Islam Academy,” the school stated after the accusations first came to light. “Upon learning of these allegations, the Academy immediately suspended the teacher’s employment, barred him from any further contact with Academy students, and has since terminated his employment with the Academy.”
With Ahmad missing, the attorneys for the alleged victims have stepped forward as a voice for them. “There was significant sexual abuse, intercourse, and other inappropriate behavior such that one of the students had to have substantial surgical repair of that (private) area,” said attorney Scott Mager. “It’s horrific.”
The attorneys for the victims also claim that Academy officials knew of Ahmad’s illegal conduct for years but did nothing to stop it, instead accusing the child of causing it. “What do they do? Absolutely nothing, except accuse the kid of doing it. What do they do, they blame, they cover up, they don’t tell the parents,” Mager alleged.
Shockingly, some parents of children at the school don’t seem upset, even though the school knowingly harbored an alleged child rapist, according to a lawsuit from the victims.
“The school and its president, Kem Hussain, should be held accountable for ‘knowingly harboring and retaining a sexual predator as their head of high school and teacher,’ the suit claims, a man who ‘sexually abused multiple children at the academy,'” Broward Palm Beach New Times reported.
Regardless of whether the school or others in the community knew about the crimes when they occurred, someone knew where Ahmad disappeared to when the accusations first emerged and he seemingly vanished, fleeing the jurisdiction the moment he found out about the pending charges against him and going on the lamb instead of defending his alleged innocence — behavior which is suspect in and of itself.
One can assume that during the little girl’s surgical repair of her genitals after her horrific rape, plenty of evidence was collected that would help identify her attacker. If Tariq Ahmad is innocent, there’s really no reason to hide. If guilty, however, it makes sense that he quickly went on the run rather than face the consequences of what he has done.
