A 22-year-old Pakistani student has been sentenced to death on charges of committing blasphemy via WhatsApp. This week, a court in Punjab province has given this decision. The student was sentenced to death for sharing videos and photographs that included alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad, the court said. Another 17-year-old student was sentenced to life imprisonment in the same case.
The cybercrime unit of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Lahore filed a complaint against the student in 2022. The complainant said he had received videos and photographs from three mobile numbers. The FIA said they saw the incriminating material after examining the complainant’s mobile phone.
The court of Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab announced this decision. The court found these young students guilty of making and sharing blasphemous pictures and videos to hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims.
The counsel for both the students said they were being implicated in a fake case. “The father of the student who has been sentenced to death will file an appeal in the Lahore High Court,” the lawyer said. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan.
There is a history of mob violence against blasphemy accused in Pakistan. In August 2023, two Christian brothers were accused of desecrating the Quran. Angry people had vandalised the houses of 80 Christians and 19 churches at that time. In one of Pakistan’s most high-profile cases, the blasphemy case against Christian woman Asia Bibi spanned nearly a decade. Her death sentence was overturned. However, she had to flee the country after this.
In February 2023, a mob dragged the blasphemy accused out of the police station and killed him. When the mob attacked the police station, the policemen fled from there. However, the police later returned with extra force and saved the body of Mohammad Waris, accused of blasphemy, from burning. Mohammad Waris was accused of insulting the Quran.
