Pakistani citizen sentenced to death for blasphemy on WhatsApp

 

According to the reports received from Peshawar on Saturday, March 25th, a Pakistani citizen was sentenced to death for blasphemy on WhatsApp. After the trial against him, a court of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province pronounced the death sentence on Friday, March 24th. It has been reported that the accused was sentenced by an anti-terrorism court in Peshawar under the country's anti-terrorism law and Pakistan's Electronic Crime Prevention Act.

Apart from death, fines and long prison terms are also punishable
According to a transcript of the court decision obtained by the AFP news agency, the suspect is in police custody and was sentenced after he was found guilty of the charges against him. Apart from the death penalty, he has also been sentenced to a fine of Rs 12 lakh and a total of 23 years in prison.

He has the right to appeal against the court decision.
Social media can be deadly for Pakistani women

According to AFP, this case was registered against the accused when a person from another city in Pakistan applied to the Federal Investigation Agency FIA two years ago that the accused was allegedly a Was convicted of posting a message causing blasphemy in a WhatsApp group. Following this request, the accused was arrested and the FIA seized his mobile phone and sent it for forensic examination.

Blasphemy law in Pakistan
Blasphemy is a very sensitive issue in the Muslim-majority South Asian country of Pakistan, and after such allegations are made there, angry public mobs take the law into their own hands and resort to violent acts against the alleged suspects.

An alleged suspect was killed by mob violence in Pakistan

Any accused can be sentenced to death under this law enacted to prevent blasphemy in Pakistan. In many cases, such accused have been sentenced to death, but so far no death sentence has been implemented for any accused for the crime of blasphemy.

Abuse of blasphemy law
Many social and legal circles in Pakistan say that the law related to blasphemy in the country is also misused in many cases and then the purpose of doing so is to take revenge for personal enmity by accusing any person.

Pakistan's blasphemy law is a sword hanging over the heads of minorities

Many such accusations are leveled against members of the non-Muslim minority population, but in many cases, the same accusations are leveled against other Muslim citizens by majority Muslim citizens.

According to the National Commission for Justice and Peace, an organization working to provide legal aid and protect human rights in Pakistan, a total of 774 Muslim citizens and 760 non-Muslim minority citizens have been blasphemed in the country during the last 20 years. Allegations have been made.