Man appears in court over flogging ritual

Published on Monday 18 August 2008 18:04

A MAN whipped himself until he bled during a Muslim religious ceremony before allegedly forcing two boys to do the same, a court heard today.

Syed Mustafa Zaidi, 44, is accused of encouraging the boys, aged 15 and 13, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to beat themselves at a community centre in Levenshulme, Manchester, on January 19.

A 20-minute film of the event, entitled 10th Muharram Jaloos Longsight, was played to the jury of five men and seven women at Manchester Crown Court.

It shows Zaidi, dressed in blue jeans and bare chested, among a group of around 150 men who are chanting and singing during the Shia Muslim Ashura ceremony.

Zaidi flogs himself with a zanjeer zani, an implement which has a wooden handle with chains and blades attached, until his back becomes bloody from the cuts.