Gujarat: Three Muslim youth attempt suicide after cleric allegedly threatens to 'expel' them from Islam in Porbandar

The three youths also announced their decision to take the extreme step on Instagram.

Porbandar: In a shocking incident, three youths from the Muslim community in Gujarat's Porbandar attempted suicide on Thursday after a cleric allegedly threatened them to “ostracise” from Islam, officials said. It is said that the youth went online on social media platform Instagram to announce about taking the extreme step.

It is said that the youths took to Instagram on the night of Aug. 10 saying that a false complaint had been made against them. The youths alleged that a few days ago the cleric of Nagina Masjid had said that Muslims should not sing the national anthem and should not salute the tricolor. They further alleged that the cleric and his followers got infuriated when the youths came to protest against his statement and threatened them that they would “throw them out of the Muslim religion”.

An official said that the three youths Shakeel Yunus Qadri (25), Harun Sipahi (31) and Sohil Parmar (26), who live near Porbandar's Lakdi port and work as laborers drank phenyl to end their lives. After the Instagram video surfaced on the Internet, the family members rushed to the spot and admitted the three friends to the hospital in Porbandar for treatment.

Dy SP, Porbandar Neelam Goswami said that a case has been registered into the incident while further investigation is underway. However, no arrest has been made in the case so far, Goswami said. Chairman Darul Ulam Gaushe Azam Institute, Shabbir Sattar Hamdani, demanded a thorough investigation into the matter.

Further details into the matter are awaited in this regard.