Pakistan, Peshawar –
Police in northwestern Pakistan have filed cases against hundreds of people who stormed a police station and killed a man being questioned on suspicion of desecrating the Quran, Islam’s holy book, authorities said on Friday.
Police official Zahid Khan said they were trying to identify the assailants who attacked and set fire to a police station in Madyan, a popular tourist destination in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Thursday night, killing a suspect.
He said the suspect, identified as Mohammed Ismail, was a tourist from the eastern province of Punjab and was staying at a hotel in the town when a mob accused him of burning pages of the Quran.
Khan said Ismail was being questioned by police when a mob stormed the police station and clashed with officers. The mob then abducted Ismail, killed him and burned his body, he said.
Khan said police are yet to arrest the attackers.
Blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan, where the country’s blasphemy laws can carry the death penalty for anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious leaders. Authorities have not yet carried out any death sentences for blasphemy, but the accusations can spark riots and incite mobs to violence.
Last month, a mob in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province attacked a 72-year-old Christian man, accusing him of desecrating the Quran. He later died in hospital.
