The chemical attacker who led police on a three-week manhunt before his body was discovered in the River Thames has reportedly been given a Muslim burial.

Abdul Ezedi was buried at an undisclosed location in East London on March 11 after he was pulled from the river last month. Ezedi, 35, had been wanted for the chemical attack on his ex-partner and her two daughters in Clapham last month in an assault which left the mum in hospital.

Originally from Afghanistan, Ezedi claimed asylum in the UK based on his claims he was a Christian escaping persecution for his faith. However, a clip from a BBC documentary on the nationwide search for him aired on Tuesday night shows his coffin being lowered into the ground after his funeral was reportedly held at a mosque in West London.
Abdul Ezedi was pulled from the River Thames nearly three weeks after going on the run following a chemical attack in Clapham (
Image:
PA)
Moment Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi is given Muslim burial despite claiming to have converted to Christianity

Questions are now being asked about why Ezedi was still in the country two years after his asylum claim was rejected. Months before the attack, Ezedi was placed on the sex offenders register at Newcastle Crown Court after being convicted in 2018 of sexual assault and indecent exposure.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper meanwhile has demanded answers from Home Secretary James Cleverly, describing the case as "disturbing" and raising "serious and urgent questions" for the Home Office. The Labour MP said: "The Home Secretary must explain why his department failed to remove Ezedi from the UK in the two years after his first asylum claim was rejected - particularly after he was convicted of sexual offences."
Footage shows Ezedi being baptised at a church in Jarrow (
Image:
PA)

Grainy black and white footage which has emerged shows Ezedi being baptised at a church in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, in 2018 as documents revealed he had made a series of blunders in an interview suggesting he was lying about his faith, including claims the Old Testament was about Jesus Christ. Despite having been found to have "not been honest in several aspects of his account", Ezedi, who arrived in the UK in 2016, was granted asylum by a judge after the Home Office's decision was appealed.

On January 31 this year, a woman and her two daughters were rushed to hospital after a corrosive substance was thrown at the mother on a street in Clapham, South London. Detectives at the Metropolitan Police launched an urgent search for Ezedi, who crashed his car shortly afterwards and took the London Underground.

He was seen shortly after the attack in a Tesco store in Islington, before CCTV captured him on Chelsea Bridge where he ultimately vanished from sight. Search teams raided properties in London and Newcastle, where he had been living, as well as scouring the river.

A body was later discovered on February 19 and confirmed to be that of Ezedi four days later.

Timeline of Abdul Ezedi's life in the UK

Here's a timeline of Ezedi’s bids for asylum in the UK, leading up to the Clapham attack and the discovery of his body.

  • January 8 2016: Ezedi arrives in the UK and claims asylum on the basis of problems with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
  • February 2016: He starts attending Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow, South Tyneside.
  • May 18 2016: Ezedi’s claim for asylum is refused – a decision which he appeals against.
  • February 8 2017: The appeal is dismissed after a judge of the First-tier Tribunal found inconsistencies in Ezedi’s account painted a picture lacking credibility.
  • June 30 2017: Ezedi’s appeal rights are exhausted.
  • June 24 2018: Ezedi is baptised after participating in a course run by Grange Road Baptist Church and goes on to engage in street ministry and handing out church leaflets.
  • March 19 2019: Ezedi makes “further submissions” for asylum and humanitarian protection, claiming that he would be at risk if he had to return to Afghanistan.
  • March 3 2020: His claim for asylum and humanitarian protection is refused.
  • March 17 2020: Ezedi lodges an appeal against the decision.
  • November 6 2020: Ezedi’s asylum appeal is allowed, after a First-tier Tribunal judge finds that he underwent a genuine faith conversion to Christianity, which would put him at risk if he returned to Afghanistan.
  • January 31 2024: The alkaline attack takes place in Lessar Avenue on a 31-year-old woman, who was with her daughters, aged three and eight. Ezedi was previously in a relationship with the woman, but he was not the father of the children.
    Ezedi allegedly throws the younger child to the ground and makes off in his car, which crashes into a stationary vehicle nearby.
    He then runs off. The Metropolitan Police are called to the scene, with 12 people, including five officers, injured. The last recorded sighting of Ezedi is at 11.27pm when he crosses over Chelsea Bridge towards the north side.
  • February 1 to February 8: A massive manhunt for Ezedi continues.
  • February 9: Met Police detectives give a media briefing in which they tell reporters they believe Ezedi went into the River Thames at Chelsea Bridge, some four hours after the alkaline attack on Wednesday January 31. Searches are carried out over the next 10 days.
  • February 19: A body seen in the water near Tower Bridge at Tower pier is recovered by the Met Police’s Marine Policing Unit and viewed by detectives working on the investigation.
  • February 23: Police confirm that Ezedi drowned after his body is formally identified following a post-mortem examination.