ICC Note:

A university student, belonging to a minority faith, in Pakistan’s Kyber Pakhtunkhwa province was brutally murdered on Thursday after being accused of posting blasphemous content online. According to reports, a mob of 1,000 enraged Muslims attacked the student, shot him, and dragged his naked body outside. Mob violence often follows religious minorities being accused of blasphemy in Pakistan. Entire Christian communities, such as Joseph Colony, have been burned to the ground after a Christian was accused of blasphemy. 

04/14/2017 Pakistan (VOA) – An angry mob killed a fellow student at a Pakistani university campus Thursday on accusations that he’d posted blasphemous content online. It was the latest in a series of vigilante attacks over the increasingly contentious issue in the predominantly Muslim country.

Witnesses and local media reported angry students associated with the ruling right-wing political parties in Pakhtunkhwa province used sticks and broken glasses during the attack on Mashal Khan, a journalism student at Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan.

“The mob later fired at the tortured body of Mashal Khan and attempted to set the dead body on fire” before police stopped them, a witness said, requesting anonymity.

The crowd marched almost casually to the scene and was so large — estimates put it at about 1,000 — that police said they were unable to intervene to save Khan. Police later arrested about 15 people, and the university was closed down as they sought other suspects.

Blasphemy may be punished by death in Pakistan. While no one has been executed, reports suggest about 17 individuals are facing death sentences, while 19 others face life imprisonment.

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