A disabled Muslim man was stabbed in the ear with a pencil while praying at the South End mosque in Pier Street, Port Elizabeth.
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Mohammed Laher 44 of Malabar also was beaten with an electrical extension cord. Nothing was robbed. Islamic scholar Moulana Nazeer Desai said a murder inside a mosque, especially during the Ramadan period, was unheard of in Port Elizabeth.
"The manner in which this attack was carried out is just totally savage. Everyone is talking about it and wants answers,” he said."In my entire history in Port Elizabeth, we have never had such a tragic and brutal murder such as this.”
Nothing was stolen. And six hours after the savage attack, the suspect - a 19-year-old Nigerian man - returned to the mosque to pray: and was arrested.
The suspect lives in a townhouse complex in Walmer Boulevard across the road from the mosque.
The Nigerian, also a muslim, "is well known to everyone here. He is not well in his head. I would tell you what happened inside, but no one knows."
Laher, who was believed to be praying at the time and was alone in the mosque, had been staying there since the start of Ramadan.
"Some people spend the entire period inside the mosque,"a witness said.Laher would have left the mosque today following the Eid celebrations.
Desai said the Laher family and Muslim community were shocked by the murder.
"Everyone is disappointed. We took this individual in with open arms as a newcomer to the country and this is how we get repaid."
He said, in keeping with Muslim rites, Laher was buried last night.A senior police officer linked to the investigation said Laher was found lying on his side.
"It looks like he was beaten with the extension cord and then stabbed in the ear.
"The incident happened shortly after a woman left the mosque. She went back inside after hearing a commotion. Laher was lying on the ground, already dead.
"There are signs of a struggle, but he could not walk and could not put up much of a fight.
"The man fled out the back door after the attack," the officer said.
Police captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said: "The case is very sensitive as the suspect is known to the community."There are many questions that still need to be addressed. We do not know the motive for the attack at this stage."
A senior member of the mosque said police had advised them not to comment to the media. The suspect is due to appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of murder.
http://www.peherald.com/news/article/17905
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