Muslim man ‘left to die’ after attack by teenager outside mosque speaks out for first time

Mohamed Rasheed Khan was repeatedly punched in the face and body - he could not eat or open his eyes for days in hospital

The 59-year-old suffered broken bones and concussion (CAIR)

Mohamed Rasheed Khan cycled to his local mosque every night in traditional flowing robes without incident.

But on the evening of 1 June he was allegedly attacked by a 14-year-old and left unconscious until a friend came across him and called an ambulance.

Mr Khan, 59, has spoken out for the first time about the attack.

The Queens resident had left the mosque when the teenagers allegedly followed him and punched him in the face. He was then repeatedly punched in the face and body.

“I wasn't breathing, I was knocked out then, if somebody didn't pick me up I might've died there,” Mr Khan told NY1.

The 14-year-old, whose name has not been released, has been charged with assault. He was with two other teenagers on the night of the attack, and the Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the case.

“Every day I go to the mosque, I come back at night, I never got attacked, just like that day they attack me, so maybe they would attack another Muslim too,” he said.

He suffered multiple broken bones in his face, fractured ribs, concussion and internal injuries.

Mr Khan has not been able to return to work. He reportedly walks with a cane and spends most of his time either at home or in the hospital.

His family has called for justice, and his brother-in-law, Komal Ramkarran, said even if the perpetrator was a minor, they should “suffer the consequence” of wrongdoing.

“Muslims in general is good people, very good people, peaceful people, they don't attack anybody they don't trouble anybody, I don't trouble anybody here,” said Khan.

The incident is one in a long line of what campaigners believe to be anti-Muslim attacks in the state and around the country.

Last month two Muslim teenagers were beaten outside a mosque in Brooklyn.

A man who was beaten on his way to a mosque in the Bronx in June, Mohammed Atique Ashraf, said his white prayer cap might have made him a target.

A report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the UC Berkeley Center for Race and Gender on the rise of Islamophobia in the US found that attacks on mosques nearly quadrupled from 20 to 78 between 2014 and 2015.