A student from Pakistan has been sentenced to death by a court in Punjab province. As per reports, the court said that the 22-year-old was given the sentence for sharing blasphemous pictures and videos over WhatsApp. In the same case, a 17-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment.
A complaint against the students was filed by the cyber-crime unit of the Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in 2022 reported the BBC. The case was filed in the capital of Punjab, Lahore. Later the case was referred to a local court in Gujranwala.
In Pakistan, blasphemy is punishable by death. There have been incidents where people reportedly have lynched others accused of this crime, even before their cases were taken to trial. As per the BBC, the judges have said that the 22-year-old student created videos and photos containing derogatory words about Prophet Mohammed and his wives. Laws against blasphemy were first codified by India’s British rulers and expanded in 1980 under Pakistan’s military government.
The plaintiff claimed that he had received the materials from three different mobile phone numbers. The younger student was sentenced for sharing the materials. The father of the student given the death sentence told the BBC that he will appeal to the Lahore High Court against the ruling. The defence lawyers argued that the student was trapped in a false case.
In August 2023, violent incidents took place in the city of Jaranwala, where numerous churches were and homes were set ablaze following the accusations against two Christian men for allegedly desecrating the Quran, the holy book of Islam and Muslims all over the world.
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