ISLAMABAD: An enraged mob in Pakistan’s northwestern Swat district late on Thursday seized a local tourist from detention inside a police station and dragged his body around the town before hanging him at a bus stop and burning him to death over suspected blasphemy.
According to witnesses, some people in Swat’s popular tourist destination of Madyan alleged that the suspect, Muhammad Ismail from Sialkot in Punjab, had desecrated a copy of the Holy Quran while staying at a hotel in the town.
As word spread, police detained the suspect and transported him to a nearby police station. The arrest was later announced over a loudspeaker at a mosque, and dozens of people gathered outside the station, clamoring for the suspect’s blood.
When police refused to hand over the suspect, a shootout ensued between the charging crowd and police, wounding eight officers. The mob eventually broke into the police station and took the suspect away. Videos on social media showed the mob surrounding the burning body in the middle of the road.
The mob then dragged the body to a bus stop in a busy market and hung it, then set fire to the police station and its vehicles. The police fled.
Blasphemy is a seditious offence in Pakistan, and the mere allegation can lead to mob violence. Last month, police rescued a Christian man in Sargodha, Punjab, who was being attacked on suspicion of desecrating the Quran. However, the man died nine days later from his injuries. In 2022, a man was stoned to death on similar suspicions in Punjab’s Khanewal district.
According to witnesses, some people in Swat’s popular tourist destination of Madyan alleged that the suspect, Muhammad Ismail from Sialkot in Punjab, had desecrated a copy of the Holy Quran while staying at a hotel in the town.
As word spread, police detained the suspect and transported him to a nearby police station. The arrest was later announced over a loudspeaker at a mosque, and dozens of people gathered outside the station, clamoring for the suspect’s blood.
When police refused to hand over the suspect, a shootout ensued between the charging crowd and police, wounding eight officers. The mob eventually broke into the police station and took the suspect away. Videos on social media showed the mob surrounding the burning body in the middle of the road.
The mob then dragged the body to a bus stop in a busy market and hung it, then set fire to the police station and its vehicles. The police fled.
Blasphemy is a seditious offence in Pakistan, and the mere allegation can lead to mob violence. Last month, police rescued a Christian man in Sargodha, Punjab, who was being attacked on suspicion of desecrating the Quran. However, the man died nine days later from his injuries. In 2022, a man was stoned to death on similar suspicions in Punjab’s Khanewal district.
