A devout Muslim was found guilty of child cruelty yesterday in a British legal first, after forcing two boys to beat themselves during a religious ceremony.
A devout Muslim was found guilty of child cruelty yesterday in a British legal first, after forcing two boys to beat themselves during a religious ceremony.
The jury at Manchester Crown Court found 44-year-old Syed Mustafa Zaidi guilty of two counts of child cruelty.
The boys, aged 13 and 15, were forced to beat themselves with a zanjeer zani, an implement containing five curved blades, during a ceremony to commemorate the death of a Shia Muslim spiritual leader.
Zaidi, of Station Road, Eccles, Salford, also flogged himself during the ceremony at a community centre in Levenshulme, Manchester, on January 19.
The boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted they wanted to beat themselves but not under duress and not using Zaidi's zanjeer zani.
Both boys also admitted they had flogged themselves with a smaller zanjeer zani from the age of six in Pakistan.
A 14-year-old boy, who was 13 at the time, said Zaidi told them both: "Start doing it, start doing it".
He told the jury: "We said we don't want to do it'."
The boy said he saw Zaidi flogging himself with the zanjeer zani before washing his blood from it and handing it to the 15-year-old boy.
He said Zaidi was "pulling him and pushing him, keep doing it', telling people this is a sad moment and look he's not doing it'.
"He goes I don't want to do it, I don't want to do it'. He kept pressuring him, make him do the knife thing, pulling him, trying to get his T-shirt off, pulling and pushing him. He was saying just do it, just do it'."
He said the 15-year-old boy "swung it once or twice and said I don't want to do it anymore'."
He said the older boy was then pulled away by another man.
A 20-minute film of the traditional Ashura ceremony, broadcast on satellite television, showed Zaidi flagellating himself until his back was bloody and cut.
The Ashura ceremony commemorates the death of Husayn, the grandson of the prophet Mohammed and a key figure in the Shia faith.
Zaidi admitted he had asked the boys if they wanted to beat themselves and that he allowed them to use his zanjeer zani. He denied his actions were wrong, saying: "This is a part of our religion."
The case was adjourned until next month for sentencing at Manchester Crown Court. Carol Jackson of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The CPS wishes to make it clear that this prosecution was not an attack upon the practices or ceremonies of Shia Muslims."
