A court at Malegaon in Maharashtra's Nashik district has convicted a Muslim man in a road accident brawl and ordered him to plant two trees and offer namaz (prayers) five times a day for 21 days.
Instead of imprisonment, the court ordered him such punishment in a case about a road accident brawl that happened in 2010 when the convict, 30-year-old Rauf Khan allegedly assaulted a man.
However, the Court also reasoned that a mere warning will not be sufficient and that the convict needed to remember the warning and his conviction so that he does not repeat his acts.
"According to me, giving appropriate warning means, to give an understanding that the crime had been committed, the accused has been proven guilty and he remembers the same so that he does not repeat the offence again," the Court opined.
With this understanding, the Court ordered the convict to plant two trees on the premises of the Sonapura Masjid, where the crime had been committed and also ordered him to take care of the trees.
The accused had told the Court that despite being a man following the Islamic faith, he was not offering regular namaz as stipulated in the religious texts.
Following this, the Court ordered the convict to offer namaz five times a day, for the next 21 days.