A man whipped himself until he bled during a Shia Muslim religious ceremony before allegedly forcing two boys to do the same, a court has heard.
Syed Mustafa Zaidi, 44, from Eccles, 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 claim he denies.
A 20-minute film of the event was played to the jury of five men and seven women at Manchester Crown Court. It shows Zaidi and the 13-year-old flogging themselves with a zanjeer zani, an implement which has a wooden handle with chains.
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