Pakistani police launch case against mob that killed man suspected of desecrating Quran

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Police in northwest Pakistan opened a case Friday against hundreds of people who attacked a police station and killed a man who was being questioned there on suspicion of desecrating the Koran, Islam’s holy book, officials said.

Police are trying to identify the people who attacked and burnt down the police station in Madyan, a popular tourist destination in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Thursday night and killed the suspect, police official Zahid Khan said.

He said the suspect, identified as Mohammad Ismail, was a tourist from the eastern province of Punjab and was staying at a hotel in the city when a mob accused him of burning pages from the Koran.

Khan said Ismail was being questioned by police when the mob attacked the police station and clashed with officials. The mob later caught Ismail, killed him and burned his body, he said.

Police have not yet arrested any of the attackers, Khan said.

Blasphemy accusations are widespread in Pakistan. Under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death. Although authorities have not yet carried out a death sentence for blasphemy, accusations of blasphemy can lead to riots and incite mob violence.

Last month, a mob in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province attacked a 72-year-old Christian after accusing him of desecrating pages of the Koran. He later died in hospital.