Video shows fasting Muslim teacher knocked out by UK police

A video circulating in the British media shows police officers brutally knocking out a fasting Muslim teacher in broad daylight in a street in the capital London.

News ID: 445291

Date: 08 June 2019 - 10:11

RNA - The video published on Thursday showed Mohammed Khan, a young teacher, being subject to extreme police violence while four officers were trying to arrest him over a prior dispute in a shop in Shadwell in east London.

One officer put his knees on Khan, who was fasting at the time of arrest in early days of the holy month of Ramadan, while people on the scene are seen asking the police to stop the violence.

Khan is seen in the video shouting and screaming in despair until he passes out. One onlooker repeatedly warns officers that he is knocked out but he is ignored.

Khan said he was arrested only because he was helping a shopkeeper with his injuries in Londis, a famous shop in the area. He said the officers refused to explain why he was being arrested.

“They chucked me in the middle of the road and attacked me like a pack of animals,” he said, adding, “It felt like my face and head were being crushed against the floor, I couldn’t breathe, I was screaming in agony and pain.”

Khan’s limp body was taken to a hospital before he was taken to a police station where he was refused food and water despite being on fasting for many hours before. He said he did not eat until 11 PM, meaning he had not eaten for nearly a full day.

“If you can imagine how a person that’s fasting going through the day without any food, any water. I was on the verge of passing out again,” Khan told a local new website.

The police in London said they were investigating the incident. They said Khan had been arrested on suspicion of obstructing police and resisting arrest.

“Two complaints have been received in relation to the action of police during this incident. ‘Both complaints are being investigated by the Professional Standards Unit based at the Central East Command Unit,” said a statement from the Metropolitan Police.

Khan said police officers in the station released him soon after they saw CCTV footage of his initial dispute with officers in Londis.

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