A six-year-old boy who was allegedly beheaded while visiting a Mosque with his mother has been pictured for the first time. Zakaria al-Jaber was attacked with a broken bottle while he visited a shrine of Prophet Muhammad in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Witnesses said the little boy and his mother got out of a taxi and were approached by a man who asked them which sect of Islam they belonged to.
When they replied that they were Shia Muslim, the man left them but minutes later a car pulled up beside them. One of the occupants got out and ripped Zakaria away and stabbed him in the neck with the glass, severing his head in the process. Local media report that the boy’s mother tried to pull his attackers off him but was unsuccessful and collapsed as she watched the attack unfold. A nearby police officer also tried to help during the incident last week, but failed.
Despite an outcry on social media, with hundreds of people sharing the hastag #JusticeforZakaria, it is understood authorities have so far made no arrests. Shia Rights Watch, a Washington DC-based human rights group, said there has been no intervention from the Saudi Authorities so far. They added that the Shia community in Saudi Arabia are in mourning for Zakaria and blamed the government for failing to protect its Shia citizens.