An angry mob stoned to death a man allegedly desecrating the Koran in a remote village in eastern Pakistan, police said.
The local mosque guard said he saw the man burning the Koran inside the mosque on Saturday night. He then told others before informing the police. The violent incident took place in a village in Punjab province, as reported by the Associated Press.
According to local authorities, police rushed to the scene. There he saw the man surrounded by the enraged crowd. The police tried to protect the man, but the gathered people started throwing stones at them and injured them.
Police ordered reinforcements to be sent to the spot, but they did not arrive on time. The mob had stoned the man to death and then hung his body on a tree.
“The unfortunate man was not well and according to his family he often disappeared from the house for days begging and eating what he found,” police said.
The guard of the mosque said that he saw smoke inside the sanctuary, and hurried to see what was happening. He found one Koran burnt and saw someone trying to burn another. At that time men were arriving for the evening prayer.
The local police chief said that the available videos are being checked to identify the perpetrators. Police have so far arrested 36 men living in the area of ​​the mosque. About 300 people took part in the stoning.
Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed disgust at the incident and demanded a report from the police on the handling of the case, saying that “they failed in their duty”.
“We have zero tolerance for anyone who takes the law into their own hands and lynching will be dealt with severely,” he tweeted hours after the incident.
Crowd attacks on people accused of blasphemy are common in this conservative Islamic nation. International organizations report accusations of blasphemy have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and clear personal accounts. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan.
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