Pakistan: Man gets death sentence in blasphemy case

As per The News International, the convict had made a false claim of being a prophet using a mosque loudspeaker at Gulibagh in the limits of Hoti Police Station six years ago.

The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Pakistan's Mardan on Tuesday convicted a man of committing blasphemy and sentenced him to death along with a fine of Rs 4,00,000, Pakistan-based The News International newspaper reported. The News International is an English-language newspaper in Pakistan.

As per The News International, the convict had made a false claim of being a prophet using a mosque loudspeaker at Gulibagh in the limits of Hoti Police Station six years ago. The court awarded the death sentence to Irfan, a resident of Gulibagh, who had falsely claimed to be a prophet. The members of the Tablighi Jamaat, who were present at the mosque at that time, had caught him and subsequently handed him over to the police.

The police had registered a case against him. The court also awarded him a ten year imprisonment under two other sections of the law, according to The News International. Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) recently condemned the blasphemy charges against Christian woman Musarrat Bibi and a Muslim man Muhammad Sarmad in tehsil Arif Wala of Pakistan's PakPattan.

It is alleged that the two burned pages of the Quran in the school where Musarrat Bibi was working as a peon and Muhammad Sarmad was working as a gardener. A man named Kashif Nadeem on April 19, 2023, called the police after he noticed that a mob of people had gathered in front of Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Tehsil Arifwala of district PakPattan to attack both accused.

People alleged that on April 15 both desecrated the Quran's pages in school and will have to be punished on the spot. HRFP fact findings team went to Tehsil Arif Wala and met with the victim's family, school officials, community, and police. It was then revealed that on April 15 afternoon, Musarrat Bibi and Muhammad Sarmad were assigned the duty to clean the school's store room. The two while collecting old and damaged papers and taking them outside, were asked by the administration to set them on fire. (ANI)

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