News Detail
Mob kills man in Pakistan, burns corpse for desecrating Quran
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani police official says thousands of people beat a man to death, and burned his corpse after he was accused of desecrating the holy Quran.
Local officer Mohammed Azhar Gujar said Wednesday the man was killed after attackers stormed a police station where he had been detained for allegedly throwing pages from the Quran onto the street.
Gujar says police officers tried to protect the man during Tuesday’s attack, but the mob turned violent. They burned several police vehicles and wounded seven officers before grabbing the man, who has not been identified.
The incident was reported to have taken place in the Ahmedpur East area of Punjab’s Bahawalpur district.
Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy laws make defaming Islam or the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), or desecrating the holy Quran, punishable by death, but incidents of attacks by furious mobs are commonplace in the country following allegations of blasphemy.
On June 17, a crowd attempted to lynch a blasphemy suspect as they tried to storm into the police station where he was held. A group of lawyers attempted to attack the same suspect the next day following his production in court but policemen successfully foiled both attacks.
In Quetta last month, a man was killed as a mob attacked a police station holding a “mentally retarded” man also suspected of desecrating the holy book.
Former Punjab governor Salman Taseer was shot dead in January last year by one of his police bodyguards for opposing the blasphemy law.--(AP)
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