Funeral in the Bronx for tenant allegedly killed by landlord

PARKCHESTER, Bronx (WABC) -- About 2,000 people gathered at a mosque in the Parkchester section of the Bronx Friday to pay their final respects to the tenant who police say was stabbed to death by his landlord.

44-year-old Zakir Khan, who came to this country from Bangladesh in the 8th grade, was killed, according to police, over a rent dispute with his landlord.

51-year-old Taha Mahran is charged with second-degree murder in connection to the case.

Khan's family was upstairs in their home and heard his screams for help.

It happened just after sunset on a quiet block in the Throgs Neck section, right in front of the victim's 12-year-old son who witnesses say screamed in horror.

"'Please help. Someone is killing my dad,'" said Abdel Chowdhury, the victim's friend.

Chowdhury is a close family friend who says Khan was a well-known realtor who served the tight knit Bengali community in the east Bronx.

A father of three, he was the subject of a glowing Daily News profile, and contributed heavily to his mosque before, friends say, he fell on hard times and lost his business.

That's why he was renting there in the first place. And, apparently, why he fell behind.