The annual Ashura Day festival where Shiite Muslims around the world cut themselves to mourn the death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD, took place in Peraeus, Greece.
Believers in Greece slashed themselves and lashed their backs as part of a rite that takes place every year.
Even young boys take part in the festivities held on the tenth day of the first month of the Islamic calendar each year. The festival’s self-flagilation has brought a controversy with some imams suggesting that the practice should be swapped for blood donations.