A 22-year-old student in Pakistan has received a death sentence after being convicted of blasphemy due to WhatsApp messages. According to the court in Punjab Province, the student shared blasphemous pictures and videos with the intent to offend the religious sentiments of Muslims.
As per the BBC report, a 17-year-old student has been sentenced to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty due to being a minor.
Indeed, blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan. However, it’s noteworthy that no one has been executed by the state for blasphemy thus far. Instead, there have been instances of accused individuals being lynched by enraged mobs.
The FIA said that it had examined the complainant’s phone and found that “obscene material” had been sent to him.
According to the BBC report, the lawyers representing the two students assert that they have been “trapped in a false case”. Additionally, the father of the student facing the death penalty intends to file an appeal in the Lahore High Court.
In August 2023, a Muslim crowd attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan. They vandalized several churches and set scores of houses on fire after accusing two Christian members of desecrating the Quran.
The incident resulted in the destruction of more than 80 Christian homes and 19 churches. The violence erupted when some residents claimed to have discovered desecrated pages of the Holy Quran near a Christian residence at a movie theatre in Jaranwala, a town in Faisalabad, Punjab province.
In a highly publicized case in Pakistan, Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, found herself embroiled in a decade-long blasphemy controversy. The situation culminated in her death sentence being overturned, leading to her eventual flight from the country.
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