Pakistan Court Acquits 20 Perpetrators in Burning Death of Two Christians
A Punjab provincial court in Pakistan acquitted a group of 20 local thugs who burned alive a Christian Pakistani woman and man in 2014, causing their brutal deaths.
The group threw Shama Shehzad and Shahzad Masih, brick kiln workers, into a burning brick kiln on false charges of blasphemy and Quran burning. The incident occurred in the city of “Kot Radha Kishan” in Punjab province.
After police determined that the couple had not actually committed such an act, they arrested many suspects and brought them before the court. In 2016, Punjab’s anti-terrorism court sentenced five perpetrators to death and 10 others to prison. Ninety-three other defendants were acquitted.
On Saturday, the Punjab court prosecutor said the court issued an acquittal verdict for 20 other defendants, who have been released.
In the 1980s, Pakistan passed a law under which blasphemy is punishable by death. This law has caused mere accusations of blasphemy against someone to incite thugs to kill that person.
The U.S. State Department believes that Pakistan’s blasphemy law has become a tool for mob justice, with mobs acting as law enforcers themselves.
Source: Radio Farda
