Man lynched by villagers over blasphemy allegation, say Pakistani police
Police
officers stand outside a mosque on Sunday, after authorities said the
man was killed for allegedly burning pages of the Quran in Tulamba
Village, Mian Channu, central Pakistan.
Lahore, Pakistan (Reuters)A mob lynched a man because he had allegedly burnt pages of Muslim holy book the Quran in central Pakistan, and dozens of people have been arrested, police and officials said Sunday.
Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered action against the mob and any police who acted an onlookers to the killing.
"The
lynching will be dealt with full severity of the law. We have zero
tolerance for anyone taking the law into their own hands," he said in a
statement.
A
government spokesman said more than 60 people suspected of involvement
in the lynching have been arrested, adding that more suspects were being
identified through social media videos shot by the villagers in
Tulamba, Khanewal district.
The
mob gathered at a mosque on Saturday night after the son of its prayer
leader announced that he had spotted the man burning pages of the holy
book, police official Munawar Hussain told Reuters.
People
stand beside the body of a man who, according to police, was lynched by
a mob, in Tulamba Village, central Pakistan, on February 13, 2022.
Police arrived to find the man unconscious and tied to a tree, Hussain said, adding that the mob also attacked the police.
"The villagers armed with batons, axes and iron rods killed him and hanged his body from a tree," Hussain said.
He
said that evidence so far gathered by police suggested the dead man,
identified as Muhammad Mushtaq, was in his 50s and appeared to have had
mental disabilities.
Mob
killings over accusations of blasphemy -- a crime that can carry the
death sentence -- are fairly frequent in Muslim-majority Pakistan.
In December, factory workers in the eastern city of Sialkot lynched and burnt the body of a Sri Lankan in an attack that Khan said brought shame on the country.
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