11.07.2026 15:40
In Kocaeli's İzmit district, the imam of the İmam-ı Rabbani Mosque, who warned a young couple drinking alcohol and behaving inappropriately in the mosque courtyard, was physically attacked. Security camera footage captured the incident moment by moment, revealing that the male suspect repeatedly assaulted the imam and bit his arm.
In the İzmit district of Kocaeli, the imam who warned a young couple behaving inappropriately in the mosque courtyard was attacked by the male suspect.
IMAM WHO WARNED THE COUPLE ATTACKED The incident occurred on July 9 around 10:00 PM at the Imam-ı Rabbani Mosque in Alikahya Atatürk Neighborhood. According to allegations, the imam warned young people who were drinking alcohol and behaving inappropriately in the mosque courtyard. Following the warning, a quarrel broke out, and the male suspect attacked the imam, causing him to fall to the ground after being struck. The couple left the scene for a while but returned to the mosque, where the male suspect assaulted the imam a second time. Noticing the situation, citizens intervened to stop the suspect. The events were recorded by the mosque's security cameras. An investigation into the incident has been launched.
"OUR HODJA WAS HIT AND HIS ARM WAS BITTEN" Describing the events, Imam-ı Rabbani Mosque board member Uğur Uludoğan said, "We faced a tragic event. This deeply saddened us and our community. These young individuals, 40 minutes before the evening prayer, started drinking alcohol 1-2 hours earlier with a female companion at the edge of the lodge. During the evening prayer, our hodja saw them in an inappropriate situation as he came down from the lodge. He warned them, saying, 'This is a mosque courtyard, your behavior here is not appropriate.' Then the suspect, Ö.K., attacked our hodja, hitting him and knocking him to the ground. His companion tried to intervene and separate them. However, the attacker returned and charged at our hodja again. Our hodja grabbed the suspect by the arm to hand him over to the police station and did not let go. The suspect then bit our hodja's arm."
Stating that the incident is unacceptable, Uludoğan remarked, "This has gone beyond assault and turned into brutality. Thus, unpleasant things are happening. Citizens came and intervened. Our mosque imam has received an assault report and is currently resting."