A MUSLIM man broke child cruelty laws by encouraging two boys to flog themselves with a bladed whip during a religious ceremony, a court heard.

Syed Mustafa Zaidi, 44, used the instrument, known as a zanjeer, to whip himself on the back until he started bleeding at the event in a Manchester community centre.

He then told two boys at the ceremony to use the whip - which is made of five chains fitted with sharp blades - on themselves.

Both boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered injuries to their backs and were taken to hospital .Mr Zaidi, of Eccles, denies two charges of child cruelty in a trial at Manchester Crown Court.

The court heard Mr Zaidi is a devout member of the Shia Muslim community and met up with fellow worshippers in January this year for a ceremony of lamentation as part of the Festival of Muharram.

The ceremony marks the martyrdom of Hussain, Mohammed's grandson and a figure central to the Shia faith. Worshippers traditionally inflict pain on themselves in an act of devotion.

Prosecutor Andrew Nuttall told the jury: "It should be made very clear to you that the use of the zanjeer is not essential or necessary.

"The aim of the whole festival is to bring genuine feelings of bereavement and grief in the participants and the watchers about what happened to Hussain and all his family at the Battle of Karbala 1,400 years ago."

The jury was shown a 20-minute video of the Manchester event attended by Mr Zaidi, which showed him dressed in blue jeans and bare-chested, among a group of about 150 men.

Worshippers were seen chanting and hitting their backs with the zanjeer in slicing motions. Mr Zaidi's back was badly bloodied and was seen being pulled from the centre of the circle by another worshipper.

Mr Nuttall said Mr Zaidi used the zanjeer with `considerable force' on himself `causing others present to fear for his safety to such an extent that they started to pull him away and calm him down'.

The prosecutor said Mr Zaidi then encouraged a boy to use the zanjeer, even though it was not normal practice to share or for a child to use it.

"Perhaps realising what was taking place was wrong, another member of the centre pulled the boy away," Mr Nuttall said.

The court was told at this point another, younger boy was forced to whip himself `using the zanjeer with those sharp knives'.

The video showed the room packed with men and boys singing, moaning and chanting in a religious ecstasy. At times the men shouted angrily before singing and breaking into a ritual dance.

The younger boy was seen using the zanjeer on himself on the film, but the camera did not film the elder boy using it.

Both boys suffered injuries to their backs. Three days later, the defendant was arrested and cautioned and his zanjeer was handed to police.

He was interviewed at Longsight police station, where he said the boys had asked to take part in the ceremony.

The court heard that Mr Zaidi had attended a meeting two days before the ceremony at his local mosque where religious leaders said children under 16 should not use the zanjeer on the day.

Jurors were shown photographs and diagrams of the boys' injuries.

Mr Nuttall said the prosecution was `not an attack of the practices of ceremonies of Shia Muslims' but added: "The law is clear. It exists to protect the young from harm and from being exposed to harm."

Proceeding