The burial of chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi was paid for with money crowdfunded under a false name.
Sex offender Ezedi, 35, who was granted asylum after converting to Christianity, was buried in an Islamic ceremony at an east London cemetery this month with a handful of people present. Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal the Muslim Burial Fund (MBF), which organised and conducted the burial, raised more than £6,000 to lay Ezedi to rest – under the name ‘Abdul Wahed’. Their cash appeal brushed over his conviction for a 2018 sex assault, plus the horrific events that led to his death.
Ezedi, who fled Afghanistan in 2016, was found in the Thames last month, ending a massive police hunt after he had attacked a mother and her children in Clapham, south London, with an alkali chemical substance in January.
Last week, after media pressure and public scepticism that Ezedi’s conversion to Christianity was genuine, documents were finally released revealing why, despite twice being refused asylum by the Home Office, he was granted leave to remain in the UK.
A letter from the Rev Roy Merrin, a retired team leader at Grange Road Baptist church in Jarrow, Tyneside, said Ezedi was baptised and attended worship regularly.
Tribunal judge W K O’Hanlon, who granted Ezedi asylum, called the Rev Merrin’s evidence ‘compelling’. But the documents also revealed Ezedi’s inability to answer basic questions on Christianity – he claimed the Old Testament was about ‘Jesus Christ’ and ‘Jacob’ was one of the 12 disciples.
The fundraiser by the MBF made £6,596, exceeding its £3,800 target, before it pulled the advert and appeal video. The appeal for ‘Abdul Wahed’ read: ‘Please give our brother a dignified Islamic burial. He died tragically in suspicious circumstances with no one to claim his body.’
An MBF representative said: ‘Regardless of any person’s faith, be it Muslim or Christian, if the next of kin decide their loved one wants such and such a burial that’s what will happen. It is not the media who will decide nor the court of public opinion.
‘Regardless of the person’s background, whatever they have been accused of doing, whatever their faith, as a charity we will only bury Muslims.’
Ezedi was allowed to stay as he would be ‘at risk’ if returned to Afghanistan.
Home Office sources have warned churches’ reputation could be damaged if they undermine the asylum system. The Baptist Union of Great Britain said it did not sponsor Ezedi’s asylum application. It said the letter of support was written by a retired minister, the Rev Merrin.