Police Investigate Philadelphia Mosque After Child Marriage Victim Steps Forward
Tom Pappert
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A teenager who claims she was married to a 28-year-old man in a Philadelphia mosque at the age of 14 led to police investigating whether illegal child marriages happen at the Islamic worship center.
Local media reports that police are investigating a Philadelphia mosque after a 17-year-old girl posted a video to Facebook detailing the abuse she allegedly suffered after being married in the mosque as a child bride twice, once at the age of 14 in a marriage that did not last, and a second marriage in 2016 to a 28-year-old man.
She says she was far from the only victim, and to make the sickening story worse, after she was married the second time she claims her husband would then rape her 10-year-old sister.
In a Facebook video posted two weeks ago, one of the alleged victims describes her ordeal. She’s 17 now but says she first became a child bride at 14.
“At the time I was a virgin. It was going to be my first marriage of course,” said the teen.
She says it didn’t last. And in 2016, she says she was married off to Rajmann Sanders, a man more than twice her age who then allegedly began sexually assaulting her and her 10-year old sister.
“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 said.
The horrifying claims led to police conducting a search of the mosque and on its leader’s home last Friday.
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