Life term for two accused in lynching university student over blasphemy

An anti-terrorism court in northwest Pakistan Thursday handed down life sentences to two accused of their involvement in the lynching of Mashal Khan, a university student who was murdered by an angry mob for allegedly committing blasphemy in 2017. Judge Mahmoodul Hassan Khattak announced the verdict, giving life sentences to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Counselor Arif Khan and Asad for their involvement in the 2017 public lynching at Bacha Khan University in Mardan city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Two other accused were acquitted in the case. The court had reserved its verdict on March 13. On April 13, 2017, Khan, 23, was beaten and shot to death by a mob accusing him of blasphemy. The lynching, which took place within the university's campus, was filmed and widely circulated on social media. A 13-member joint investigation (JIT) found that the allegations of blasphemy were used as a pretext to incite a mob against Khan, a Mass Communications student.

Earlier, an anti-terrorism court in Abbottabad had awarded death penalty to main suspect Imran, life imprisonment to five and, one to three-year rigorous imprisonment to 25 others. A total of 61 people suspected of involvement in the lynching - the majority of the students and university employees - were charged in the first information report.