Court sentences six to death and dozens more to prison for killing a Sri Lankan man accused of blasphemy.
A court in Pakistan has sentenced six people to death after convicting them of their role in the vigilante killing of a Sri Lankan factory manager last year who was accused of blasphemy by workers.
The six people sentenced to death were convicted of murdering Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana in a case that outraged many Pakistanis. The anti-terrorist court in Lahore, set up in a high-security prison, also handed out nine people life sentences, one five-year sentence and 72 two-year sentences, according to a statement by prosecutors.
Diyawadana was killed in December by workers at a sporting goods factory in east Pakistan’s Sialkot district, where he was a manager.
Few issues are as electrifying in Pakistan as blasphemy, and even the slightest hint of insult to Islam can hasten protests and incite lynchings.
“The prosecution team has worked very hard to bring their case to court and to come to this verdict,” Abdul Rauf Wattoo, the lead prosecutor, told AFP.
“We are satisfied with the result.”
The special Anti-Terrorism Court was set up to expedite justice in high-profile cases that could otherwise take years to process.
Police officers escort suspects allegedly involved in the killing of Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, a Sri Lankan factory manager, after their appearance before an anti-terrorist court in Gujranwala, Pakistan, December 6, 2021 [Aftab Rizvi/AP Photo]
At the time of the murder, local police officers told AFP that rumors were spreading that Diyawadana tore down a religious poster and threw it in the bin.
Several gruesome video clips shared on social media showed a mob beating the victim who was lying on the ground while chanting anti-blasphemy slogans. Other clips showed Diyawadana’s body on fire.
Many in the crowd made no attempt to hide their identities, and some took selfies in front of the burning corpse.
Rights groups say accusations of blasphemy can often be used to settle personal vendettas, with minorities largely the target.
In April 2017, an angry mob lynched university student Mashal Khan when he was accused of posting blasphemous content online.
A Christian couple was lynched and their remains burned in a kiln in Punjab in 2014 after being falsely accused of desecrating the Koran.