A man was lynched by a mob during former Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s party rally in the Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of the country over blasphemy, the Daily Pakistan reported citing officials. The news outlet said quoting local police that the incident occurred on Saturday evening when Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) activists took to the streets in Mardan.
The man has been identified as Nigar Alam, a resident of Shirin Kot in Nowshehra, who visited Mardan to join PTI on Saturday and participated in the rally, police said, as quoted by Daily Pakistan. The report added that the man made some contentious statements while leading a dua on the stage at the end of the rally, which were considered blasphemous by the masses.
He managed to flee the scene, police said, but a mob tracked him down to a relative's house, stated an NDTV report which cited AFP.
"A group of individuals climbed over the wall, barged inside, and beat him to death with sticks and batons," said district police chief Najeeb-ur-Rehman. "The mob was so agitated that it became extremely challenging for the police to even recover the body," he told AFP. He was subsequently beaten to death by the mob around him.
Pak media reported that videos of the lynching have been shared widely on social media, with police seen putting nearly no effort to stop an angry mob from beating the man.
Local media outlet Daily Pakistan reported that the mob allegedly tried to torch the corpse of the man, but police managed to take the body into custody.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can stir mobs and violence.
According to the Centre for Social Justice, an independent group advocating for the rights of minorities, more than 2,000 people have been accused of committing blasphemy since 1987, and at least 88 people killed by lynch mobs for similar allegations, stated AFP, as quoted by the NDTV report
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