Kerala police has arrested a Madrassa teacher who is believed to have sexually abused several children over a period of many years.

According to a report in The News Minute, the 63-year-old teacher hails from Aluva and was employed at a local mosque in Kottayam. The man, identified as Yusuf, was teaching at a mosque in Thalayolaparambu for the last two years and sexually abused several of his students, police said.

A police officer said that the chief imam of the mosque would not visit the Madrassa for three days a week and that is when Yusuf would pick his victims, take them to a private room and sexually assault them.

The accused chose victims of 10-years of age or below, mostly girls, to ensure his crimes were never reported. “Since children that young are naive and are unlikely to understand what sexual abuse is, he relied on this," Soofi TM, Sub Inspector of Thalayolaparambu station was quoted as saying by TNM.

The accused first earned the confidence of local residents by holding long prayers and speeches. He also convinced the mosque authorities to give him a private room where he would take his victims to abuse them.

He would lure his victims by promising them sweets and take them to the room, Soofi added.

He had been doing this for many years but was exposed 2 weeks ago after a young boy whom he abused disclosed the incident to his parents. The family complained to the mosque authorities following which he was fired and a police complaint was lodged.

He, however, fled the town and spent the last few days at mosques in Thrissur and Palakkad where he addressed gatherings during the month of Ramzan. He was finally nabbed from Kodungallur on May 27.

Following his arrest by the Thalayolaparambu police, Yusuf claimed that he too faced sexual abuse as a child. He reportedly told the police that his first victim was the daughter of a man who had sexually abused him. He committed the first crime as revenge but kept doing that as he was never caught.

While the exact number of victims is not yet known, the police have asked Mosque authorities' help to see if more students speak up.

"We believe he may have abused at least 19 children and we are yet to probe the case deeper,” a police officer said.