A mob in Pakistan on Friday lynched a Sri Lankan nationwide earlier than burning his physique over alleged blasphemy within the nation’s Punjab province.
Priyantha Kumara, who was in his 40s, was working as the final supervisor of a manufacturing unit in Sialkot district, some 100 kms from right here, a Punjab police official advised PTI.
“Mr Kumara allegedly tore a poster of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in which Quranic verses were inscribed and threw it in the dustbin. The poster of the Islamist party was pasted on the wall adjoining the office of Kumara. A couple of factory workers saw him removing the poster and spread the word in the factory,” the official mentioned.
Hundreds of males, enraged over the “blasphemy” incident, began gathering exterior the manufacturing unit from adjoining areas. Most of them have been activists and supporters of the TLP.
Police officers stand guard exterior a morgue the place the physique of a Sri Lankan citizen who was lynched is saved, in Sialkot, Pakistan, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. (AP)
“The mob dragged the suspect (the Sri Lankan national) from the factory and severely tortured him. After he succumbed to his wounds, the mob burnt his body before police reached there,” the official mentioned.
Several movies have been circulated on social media displaying lots of of males gathered on the web site surrounding the physique of the Sri Lankan nationwide. They have been chanting slogans of the TLP.
The Imran Khan authorities had just lately lifted a ban on the TLP after signing a secret settlement with it after which its chief Saad Rizvi and over 1,500 activistsaccused of terrorism have been launched from jail.
The TLP in return had ended its week-long sit-in in Punjab after withdrawing its demand of expelling the French ambassador on the difficulty of blasphemous cartoons in France.
Sialkot District Police Officer Umar Saeed Malik advised reporters {that a} heavy contingent of police has been deployed within the space to manage the scenario after the lynching of the Sri Lankan nationwide.
Mob in Pakistan lynches Sri Lankan citizen over ‘blasphemy’, burns his physique
I’m extraordinarily shocked on the horrific Sialkot incident. I’ve instructed IG Police to completely examine it. No one is allowed to take legislation of their arms. Rest assured, people concerned on this inhumane act won’t be spared!!
— Usman Buzdar (@UsmanAKBuzdar) December 3, 2021
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar termed it a really tragic incident and ordered the Inspector General of Police to analyze the matter and report him inside 24 hours.
“Every aspect of the incident should be investigated and a report should be submitted. Action should be taken against those who take the law into their own hands,”the chief minister mentioned in an announcement.
The scenario within the space is tense whereas all factories are shut. No arrests have been made up to now, the police added.
Pakistan has extraordinarily strict legal guidelines towards defaming Islam, together with the loss of life penalty, and rights campaigners say they’re usually used to settle private disputes within the Muslim-majority nation.
A US authorities advisory panel report says Pakistan used blasphemy legal guidelines greater than another nation on this planet.
Mere allegations of blasphemy have triggered violence towards minorities like Christians.
Several individuals accused of committing blasphemy have been lynched lately.
