This is the terrifying moment a landlord rips through the front door of his tenant's flat and then appears to lunge at him with a circular saw in a row over unpaid rent.
Dr Muhammed Raheel claimed that at around 1.30pm on Monday his landlord tried to break into his rented flat - and a distressing video posted on social media shows the man being allegedly threatened by the property owner.
The surgical doctor, who moved from Pakistan to Ireland six years ago and now lives in Galway with his wife and young children, said his family was left "traumatised" after the incident.
Footage filmed from inside the flat shows a saw ripping through the property's front door while the doctor stands behind it.
As the door begins to be cut through, the doctor opens it and asks the landlord to stop, telling him to "stay back" or he would call the police.
But the landlord does not seem worried and in the clip, he appears to launch the saw at Dr Raheel while entering the hallway, as the tenant steps back while screaming.
Dr Raheel said that if his wife had not helped him step back when the landlord lunged towards him, "anything could have happened" as the toll was charged and working.
During an interview with radio station Newstalk, the doctor claims the landlord abused him religiously and racially before attacking the door, threatening to burn a Quran he had in his car, and saying he did not care about his family.
Dr Raheel contacted Gardaí to report the incident but said he was not satisfied by their response, claiming that officers told him it was a "civil matter" that cannot be resolved by police intervention.
The man said he and his family are now living in terror and cannot sleep at night as they fear the landlord may return with another weapon.
Talking the day after the incident, he said: "The system did not protect me yesterday, I have been up all night with my wife and our one- and three-year-old daughters, awake with worry that he would return with another weapon."
The surgeon explained that a rent disagreement developed with the landlord after his online payments began bouncing back in August 2022 and he could not contact the homeowner to ask why it was happening.
He said he put money aside so he would have it ready when the landlord got in touch, but on March 28, while he was working, Dr Raheel was called by his wife, who was home alone with her two daughters, asking him to return home immediately as someone was drilling outside and trying to break into the house.
The doctor said: "I was in the middle of the operating room and I had to apologise and leave. When I got home, there was a locksmith at the door who claimed that he was told no one was living there and the locks needed changed.
"The landlord arrived at the house shortly after and was shouting 'where is my rent?'. I told him that I had been trying to send it and had proof of this, but payments would not go through.
"He gave me some explanation about switching bank accounts. He proceeded to racially abuse me. The Gardaí that came on that day were very good, they spoke to us separately and de-escalated the situation."
Dr Raheel claimed the landlord told him he wanted his family to leave the flat but did not provide any formal notice period.
He was then advised not to pay the rent without looking at the situation further, but he paid for the month of April to a different account after having email contact with the landlord's family.
He added he has arrangements in place to pay the outstanding balance and find a new place as soon as possible.
Dr Raheel said: "My intention is to pay the rent to the new bank account that is outstanding, against my solicitor’s advice, so I can move on from this and get my family into a safer situation."
However, following the incident on Monday, Dr Raheel and his family, including his one and three-year-old daughters, were left traumatised.
Dr Liqa Ur Rehman, of the Association of Irish Pakistani Physicians and Surgeons, described the incident as "disgraceful" and called on authorities to take action "before it's too late", considering that the landlord has already tried to break into the property twice.
Sharing the video online, the paediatrician said migrant doctors in Ireland face significant challenges as they are often moved around and cannot find somewhere stable to live.
Today, Gardaí told The Mirror they have arrested a man in connection with the incident and he is now in police custody.
An Garda Síochána said in a statement: "Gardaí investigating an incident at a residential premises in Ballinasloe on the 17th April 2023 have arrested a man for an alleged offence contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.
"The man is detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda Station in Co. Galway."
