CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina Two very different accounts of the moments leading up to the death of Marine recruit Raheel Siddiqui emerged Tuesday at the court-martial of a former drill instructor accused of abusing numerous recruits at Parris Island, South Carolina.

Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix is accused of slapping Siddiqui, who then ran to a nearby stairwell and jumped to his death on March 18, 2016. Siddiqui’s throat was so swollen that day that he could not speak. He was ordered to run from one end of the squad bay and back for not giving the greeting of the day.

Siddiqui held his throat while running and eventually fell to the floor, said Capt. Corey Wielert, one of the prosecutors in the case.

Witnesses heard Felix tell Siddiqui, “Get up you p---y; I know you’re faking it,” Wielert said during his opening argument. After giving Siddiqui a sternum rub, Felix slapped Siddiqui, Wielert said.

But Felix’s attorney, Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Bridges, argued that Felix only slapped Siddiqui when other attempts to revive him failed.

“At that point, fear and instinct kick in,” Bridges said. “Are you OK? Slap. Are you OK? Slap. It wasn’t maltreatment.”

Siddiqui died on the fourth day of training, which is a day of pure chaos, Bridges said.

All recruits have sore throats by that time, he said, but failing to give the greeting of the day “is not something you do to on the fourth training day to the senior drill instructor.”

Bridges also claimed that Felix told recruits to cooperate with investigators but not discuss what happened with recruits from other platoons.

More than 70 witnesses are expected to testify at Felix’s court-martial, which is slated to last three weeks.

Felix is accused of choking, hitting and stomping on recruits. Lance Cpl. Ameer Bourmeche testified that Felix and another drill instructor allegedly made him conduct a mock beheading of another Marine while yelling “Allahu akbar.” At the time of boot camp, Bourmeche was trying to follow his parents‘ Muslim faith.

Wielert said, “Gunnery Sgt. Felix wasn’t making Marines. He was breaking them.”

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