Pakistani police officers stand alert outside a central jail during a court proceeding announcing sentences in the murder case. Mashal Khan, 23, was stripped, beaten and shot by a gang made up mostly of students last April before being thrown from the second floor of his dormitory at Abdul Wali Khan University in the northwestern city of Mardan. Blasphemy is an enormously sensitive charge in Pakistan, and a criminal offence that can carry the death penalty. While the state has never executed anyone under blasphemy laws, mere allegations have prompted mob lynchings and lesser violence. Since 1990 vigilantes have been accused of murdering 65 people tied to blasphemy, according to research compiled by the Centre for Research and Security Studies.

Source: Bangkok Post February 07, 2018 18:11 UTC