Religious ceremony ... a man who urged two boys to whip themselves with blades has been given a suspended sentence.
Man pushed boys to beat themselves with blades
Guilty of child cruelty when they suffered deep wounds
Judge gives him a suspended sentence
A devout Muslim has been given a 26-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, for forcing two teenagers to flog themselves until their backs bled during a Shi`ite religious ceremony.
Syed Mustafa Zaidi, 44, was also barred from encouraging minors to beat themselves over the next year.
Last month, a jury at Manchester Crown Court in northwest England convicted Zaidi on two counts of child cruelty over the incidents, during a ceremony in January to commemorate the death of the spiritual leader of Shi`ite Muslims.
The victims, who were 13 and 15 at the time, were forced to beat themselves with a zanjeer zani, which has a wooden handle with chains and five blades attached.
Zaidi, who denied cruelty, also beat himself during the ceremony.
Judge Robert Atherton said he rejected "the suggestion that they were forced to participate`` and said Zaidi`s offence was "providing the means by which they (the youths) were able to participate`` in the ceremony.
But he said the verdict was "not a comment upon the ceremony and no one should misinterpret it as being such".
The two victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted they wanted to beat themselves, but not to be forced to do so, and not with Zaidi`s zanjeer zani.
They also acknowledged they had flogged themselves with a similar implement from the age of six, in Pakistan.
The boys needed hospital treatment after their mother found them suffering from several deep wounds on their backs and multiple slash wounds.
After Zaidi`s conviction, the general secretary of the Jaffria Islamic Centre said there had been similar previous cases which had not been brought to court.
"We have to take into account people`s beliefs and their rights, and we will respect them," he said.
"But we are not above the law and we never will be and working with the authorities is the best chance we`ve got to prevent any harm being brought against any children.
