Man accused of blasphemy stoned to death by mob in Pakistan, 62 held
India Today
A man was stoned to death in a remote village in Pakistan's Punjab province for allegedly desecrating a religious book.
A middle-aged man was stoned to death and his body was hung from a tree by a mob for allegedly desecrating a religious book in a remote village in Pakistan’s Punjab province, police said on Sunday, a gruesome incident that has sparked nationwide outrage.
The incident took place in Jungle Derawala village, in Khanewal district, situated 275-km from Lahore on Saturday evening, where locals had gathered after their Maghrib (evening) prayers, following announcements that a man had torn pages of the Holy Quran and had set them on fire.
The police had arrived in the village before the incident, but the mob had outnumbered them.
They seized the victim from the SHO’s custody and tied him to a tree, after which he was lynched to death, eyewitnesses said.
“Over 300 men had gathered at Masjid Shahmuqeem Muaza in Jungle Derawala village, where they tied a middle-aged man with a rope before stoning him to death. Later, they hung his body on a tree,” police officer Muhammad Amin told PTI.
He said two policemen, who tried to bring the body down from the tree, were injured when mob began throwing stones at them.
"Police tried to take the injured man into custody, but we were outnumbered by the mob, and they killed him. They chanted religious slogans and attacked the two policemen who tried to bring the victim’s body down from the tree. Once fresh reinforcements arrived in the village, they shifted the body to a mortuary," Amin said.
