Elderly Imam ‘kidnapped, attacked and humiliated’ after being asked to ‘exorcise’ child, trial hears

Azizur Rahman, 40, of Bluebell Walk, St Mary’s Way, Oldham and Shohad Miah, 24, of Firbank Road, Royton, deny kidnap

An elderly Imam was ‘kidnapped, attacked and humiliated’ after he was asked to ‘exorcise’ a child, a trial has heard.

The 87-year-old man was bundled into a car in September last year, before he was repeatedly punched, hit with a stick and strangled, prosecutors allege. He was then stripped of his clothes, leaving him in just his underwear, before he was dumped on a dark, quiet road and left ‘to his fate’, jurors were told.

Manchester Crown Court heard that he had been asked by a woman to help her child, and so he gave them an ‘Taweez’ or ‘amulet’ for protection.

The woman’s husband, Azizur Rahman, 40, and another man, Shohad Miah, 24, allegedly kidnapped the elderly man after Mr Rahman had learnt that he had been at his home. Days after the alleged attack, they ‘set fire’ the car used to abduct the man, prosecutors said.

Both men are on trial and deny offences of kidnap, causing grievous bodily harm, non-fatal strangulation, robbery and perverting the course of justice. Mr Rahman, denies further offences of threatening the man with a blade and making threats to kill the woman.

Saul Brody, prosecuting, told jurors that the background to the offence was ‘a little odd’. He said Mr Rahman’s wife had a child from a previous relationship who had been experiencing some ‘issues’.

“As a result she decided to ask a senior member of the Muslim community to come to the house and do by whatever means they can to assist the child by some sort of exorcism and removing an 'evil spirit' from the child,” he said.

The victim had been asked to go to the house by the women and read ‘notes from the Quran’, it was said.

“Mr Rahman did not want that particular Imam to be employed or recruited to do that - he wanted somebody else,” the prosecutor added. “It’s really just that which enraged him so much that he wanted to exact revenge.”

Mr Brody said the elderly man was ‘specifically targeted’. On September 15 last year, a black Audi A7 pulled into the 247 Hotel on Windsor Road, Oldham. Both men checked in, with Mr Rahman using his brother’s driving licence, the court heard.

Shortly after checking in, they left the hotel together in the Audi and pulled up in front of the victim on Leigh Street at around 9pm. He had been visiting somebody at the time and was walking home, it was said.

“Both defendants got out and approached him, grabbed hold of him and forced him into the rear offside passenger side. The doors were closed and the childlock was activated and he was trapped in the back of the car,” Mr Brody continued.

Mr Miah got into the driver’s seat and Mr Rahman got into the back of the car before he questioned him, asking: “Why have you been in my home? Why have you put an amulet in my home?”

He then told the elderly man who he was before both men violently attacked him, jurors heard.

The victim was blindfolded with his own scarf, robbed of £200 cash and phone, and Mr Rahman allegedly produced a large knife to threaten him with. He was said to have ‘pleaded’ with the men, telling him ‘I’m an old man’, the court was told.

“He started praying - the more he prayed, the more they hurt him,” the prosecutor said. “He was punched, hit with a stick, when he asked for some water they gave him alcohol - his clothes were covered in blood.”

Mr Rahman and Mr Miah then allegedly removed his clothes leaving him in just his underwear. During the assault, the man lost his front tooth, it was said.

He was eventually forced out of the car on Oldham Road in Rishworth and left there, where it was dark, remote and with limited street lighting, the court heard. The man walked for around half an hour before he knocked on at a house for help, and the emergency services were called, jurors were told.

He was left with a number of injuries including a bleed on the brain, a wound to his ear, a swelling to his cheekbone, a large bruise to his neck and a missing tooth, Mr Brody said.

The next day, September 16, both defendants went back to the hotel on foot, and were later seen getting out of a silver Volkswagen Polo at a massage parlour at 3.30am.

Days later, members of the public reported seeing an Audi on fire on Beaver Street in Oldham. The victim’s DNA was recovered from the back of the car, and officers also found a petrol can and butane can containing Mr Rahman’s fingerprints, the court heard.

When Mr Miah was arrested, officers found a receipt in his wallet for five litres of unleaded petrol which was bought on September 17, it was said. As part of the investigation, dash cam footage was also recovered from the inside of the Polo. The day before the incident, Mr Rahman and Mr Miah could be heard discussing a ‘kidnap’, the prosecutor continued.

“They were talking about how the victim arranged to do ‘black magic’. Mr Rahman then said ‘When I get him I’m going to strip him naked’. Mr Miah then said ‘Yeah, spit on him as well’.”

Jurors were told that Mr Rahman and his wife had separated in December 2023, and after the incident he told her: “W***e, you are a prostitute. If I’m going down or this, I will kill you and go down for life - I will ruin your life.”

Concluding , Mr Brody said: “Both defendants accept that they were the two men in the Audi, what you will have to decide is what happened that caused [the victim] to get into the car? How was he injured so badly? Did Mr Rahman have a knife? Did they rob him? Did they intend to cause him really serious harm?”

Mr Rahman of Bluebell Walk, St Mary’s Way; and Mr Miah, of Firbank Road, Royton, deny the offences.

Proceeding.