Man accused of blasphemy is lynched by a mob in Pakistan
Man accused of blasphemy is lynched by a mob in Pakistan
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Lahore: In Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, hundreds of Muslims converged on a police station on Saturday, snatched a blasphemy suspect from his cell, took him outside, and lynched him, according to police.

A man named Waris had been detained by police, according to senior police officer Babar Sarfaraz Alpa, for desecrating pages of a copy of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. He claimed that Waris had pasted pictures of himself, his wife, and a knife on various pages of the book, displayed them, and dispersed them throughout Nankana's rural area.

The Warburton police station was attacked by a furious mob of hundreds, according to Alpa, some of whom scaled a wall using a wooden ladder and unlocked the main gate.

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Waris was allegedly taken from his cell and the entire police station was ransacked, according to Alpa. By the time more police officers arrived on the scene, the man had already been lynched and his body was on fire. However, police thwarted their attempt with the assistance of more sensible locals, he said.

In Pakistan, blasphemy offenses are punishable by death. Blasphemy accusations, according to international and Pakistani rights organizations, are frequently used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores. The Islamists in Pakistan have long resisted calls for the government to change the country's blasphemy laws.

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Shahbaz Sharif, the prime minister, denounced the incident and urged the chief of the Punjab police to discipline any officers who failed to safeguard the suspect while they were in custody. According to Alpa, Waris was detained in 2019 on a prior blasphemy charge and remained behind bars through the middle of 2022.

He claimed that on Saturday morning, Waris again desecrated the Qur'an, and that those who witnessed the incident seized him and began beating him. Police, however, intervened to save Waris and arrested him.

The lynching of Waris would be looked into, according to Alpa. For negligence in the performance of their duties and failing to stop the attack on the police station as well as the killing of the suspect, Punjab police chief Usman Anwar suspended the police station chief and the area deputy superintendent.

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A group lynched the Sri Lankan manager of a sports equipment factory in Punjab in December 2021 after accusing him of blasphemy.

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