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Zakir Sayyed Khaja, an Imam at a mosque in Maharashtra’s Jalna district was beaten up and his beard cut off for refusing to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram, reports India Today web
An Imam who led the prayer at a mosque in Maharashtra’s Anwar village in Jalna was attacked by unidentified individuals who entered the place of worship and beat him up for refusing to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Speaking to India Today, the Imam, Zakir Sayyed Khaja, said the incident took place on Sunday at around 7.30 pm when he was sitting inside the mosque reading the Quran.
According to reports Unidentified individuals entered the mosque with cloth over their faces and forced the Imam to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while he was reading the Quran. When the Imam refused to do as he was told, three individuals took him outside the mosque and beat him up. The Imam said his attackers used a chemical-laced cloth to make him unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he realized that his beard had been cut off.
After the incident came to light, police arrived at Anwar village where the mosque is located and started investigating the case. A case was registered at the Paradh police station in Bhokardan against the unidentified individuals under Sections 452 (trespassing after preparation for hurt, assault), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 34 (criminal act by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).