Gerrard Kaonga
A former partner of the suspect in the Manchester synagogue attacker has revealed her disturbing relationship with him.
On Thursday (October 2), two people were killed and three were injured in Manchester, UK, when a man drove his car into worshipers outside a synagogue.
He then reportedly got out of his car and began attempting to stab individuals. When police arrived at the scene, he was shot and killed.
Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, have since been identified as the two men killed in the incident.
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Not long after the attack, authorities named 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie as the perpetrator, a British citizen of Syrian descent.
A woman, now claiming to have previously been in a relationship with Al-Shamie, has accused him of being abusive and controlling while also making concerning confessions to her.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News (MEN), the woman, who has now left the UK, said she was in an on-and-off relationship with Al-Shamie.
The pair matched on a Muslim dating app and she claimed that he had forced her to watch ‘extreme videos’.
Showing the outlet the messages after they had broken up and she had blocked him, she said he messaged her on a banking app.
In one of the messages, he allegedly told her: "We had a good year or so. I enjoyed destroying you hundreds of times. In your prime."
According to the outlet, he also wrote: "Your [sic] so childish. Unblock me. And give me ur snap like I asked."
As well as this, Al-Shamie also sent her a voice note that allegedly showcased his controlling behavior.
The woman recalled that he had previously told her she should be ‘dedicated to the cause’.
She was also left alarmed and horrified when he said that he wanted to ‘join ISIS’, seemingly hoping that he was not serious.
As per The Standard, the woman said: "He used to say, 'I want you to be dedicated to the cause', and he used to sit there and make me watch videos – like extreme videos – that I had no interest in. I am Muslim and of course I love to learn more. But this stuff was things that I have been raised to not agree with.
"He used to always say I was taught the wrong way and I wasn't taught right. He was basically just trying to groom me into what he thought."
The woman also proclaimed that her ex used to say ‘weird stuff’ and that she can’t believe she stayed as long as she did.