A 16-year-old boy was reportedly beaten up by six people, including four 'Islamic clerics' for refusing to join Islamic State (ISIS) and wage jihad against the infidels.
Furquan Sheikh, a class 10 student, was thrashed near his house in the suburban town of Mumbra, located 40km from Mumbai. The boy's family was reportedly approached a few days back by the four maulvis (Islamic clerics) asking him to join 'holy war' in Syria and Iraq being fought by Sunni militants.
The four reportedly even came to the boy's house telling his parents that the boy would be trained properly and would get to live in foreign lands. The family, however, is said to have politely refused the offer.
On 26 January, the four clerics, who are members of the local mosque ganged up on the teenager along with two other men and beat him up mercilessly. The six even threw stones and broke the glass windshield of the car belonging to Furquan's father.
They accused the boy and his family of not being true Muslims as they refused to join the Islamic State (ISIS). They reportedly even tried to drag the boy through the streets into the mosque to make him recite Quran, to prove his faith.
Furquan's mother Parveen Sheikh who rushed to the scene after being informed by the neighbours, told the local police in her complaint that the boy received severe injuries to this rib cage, which caused internal bleeding, Mumbai Mirror reported.
The Islamic State militants, who want to establish an Islamic country on the principles of Sharia, have been able to entice several "misguided" Sunni youth from several countries.
From Mumbai, four youths have confirmed to have joined ISIS. One of the four, Kalyan engineer Arif Majeed, who quit terror group Islamic State and returned to India last month, told investigators that he was part of a radicalised group of 40 students.
He has also reportedly confessed to have been trained as a suicide bomber the organisation.
