A 36-year-old tourist was brutally lynched and his body set on fire by an enraged mob in Madyan, a town in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The incident, as reported by Al Jazeera, occurred following allegations that the man had desecrated the Quran, Islam’s holy book.
According to Swat police officials, the man was accused of “insulting the Quran.” The specifics of his alleged actions remain unclear.
“Our police team reached the main market in Madyan to arrest the man and took him to the police station, but the crowd demanded to have him handed over,” a police official told Al Jazeera.
The situation escalated when hundreds gathered outside the Madyan police station where the man was held. The mob attacked the premises, dragged out the man, and killed him.
A police source at central Swat police headquarters stated that the man had been “tortured to death”.
A horrifying video on social media shows a large crowd chanting religious slogans around a burning body.
WATCH: (GRAPHIC: Viewer discretion is advised.)
Man accused of blasphemy burnt alive by Pakistani Muslims. #Pakistan is a medieval retarded terrorist country. pic.twitter.com/9KjV9Iq7GY
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) June 21, 2024
Pakistani Muslim Mob BURN TOURIST ALIVE for committing ‘blasphemy’ against Islam.
The man was lynched by a several hundred strong group in the Swat region of Pakistan, with the mob accusing the man of desecration of the Holy Book after he allegedly burnt several pages.
The… pic.twitter.com/NufWXKK653
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 21, 2024
CTV reported:
The suspect, identified as Mohammad Ismail, was a tourist from the eastern Punjab province and was staying at a hotel in the town when a mob accused him of burning pages from the Quran.
Khan said Ismail was being questioned by police when the mob attacked the police station and clashed with officers. The mob later snatched Ismail, killed him and burned his body, he said.
Police have not yet arrested any of the attackers, Khan said.
Blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan. Under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death. While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, accusations can cause riots and incite mobs to violence.
Last month, a mob in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province attacked a 72-year-old Christian man after accusing him of desecrating pages of the Quran. He later died at a hospital.
