Mob in Pakistan storms police station, kills man accused of blasphemy

In yet another case of mob killing reported from Pakistan, a man accused of committing blasphemy was dragged out of a police station and killed in Nankana Sahib City on Saturday.

The victim, identified as Muhammad Waris, was in police custody at the Warburton Police Station reportedly for desecrating the Muslim holy book Quran.

According to local media reports, Waris was beaten to death by the mob. They also tried to set his body on fire, but police reinforcements managed to overpower them before they could do it. The man, in his 30s, was stripped naked before being dragged through the streets by his legs and beaten to death.

"The angry mob stormed the police station using a wooden ladder, dragged him out and beat him to death," Waqas Khalid, a police spokesperson, told the Guardian.

According to a statement issued by Punjab Inspector General of Police Usman Anwar, two police officers have been suspended for failing to perform their duties and save Waris. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also ordered an inquiry into the case.

The horrific incident came to light after a video went viral on social media. Several videos have emerged on Twitter wherein a crowd of people can be seen thronging the police station before killing Waris.

This is not the first such incident that has occurred in Pakistan. The country has often seen people resorting to violence to punish those accused of blasphemy.

In 2021, a 48-year-old Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot was beaten to death and his body was set ablaze by a mob for alleged blasphemy.

The mob had accused Priyantha Kumara of removing a poster bearing words from the Quran from the walls of the sports equipment factory where he used to work as a general manager.

The videos, which later made it to social media, showed Kumara being chased onto a roof, beaten with sticks and stripped before being set ablaze by a blood-thirsty mob.

In 2017, an angry mob lynched university student Mashal Khan who was found to be falsely accused of blasphemy. In 2015, Muslims beat to death a Christian couple and burned their bodies in a brick kiln for allegedly desecrating the Quran.

A court in Pakistan sentenced two Christians and a Muslim to death for blasphemy in 2016. The three men were said to have made derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad in an audio recording.

At least 84 people were accused of committing blasphemy in 2021, according to data provided by the Centre for Social Justice.