Muslim singer's brother stabbed to death for singing bhajan in Uttar Pradesh

A 17-year-old brother of a Muslim singer, who courted controversy for singing a bhajan, was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants here, police said on Sunday.

The victim, Khursheed, is the cousin of singer Farmani Naaz, police said.

The incident took place on Saturday night at Muhammadpur Mafi village in Ratanpuri, Superintendent of Police (rural) Atul Shrivastava said.

'The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. We have lodged an FIR and initiated investigation,' he said.

Har Har Shambhu, a devotional song praising Lord Shiva was sung by Naaz last year with a Deoband cleric terming it “un-Islamic” and “haram” (forbidden).

Naaz, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, defended herself saying artistes do not have a religion and that she has not erred.

She also participated in Season 12 of the singing reality show Indian Idol and her YouTube channel has more than 4.5 million subscribers.