Pakistan Court sentences 6 people to death in Sri Lankan mob lynching case

A Pakistan anti-terrorism court on Monday announced its verdict in the Sri Lankan mob lynching case in which a general manager of a Sialkot factory was murdered and torched by a mob of 800 men over allegations of blasphemy. According to Pakistan's The Express Tribune, 89 people accused of lynching have been convicted in the case.

Out of these, 6 suspects have been given the death penalty, 7 were given life imprisonment, and 76 others two years in prison each. One suspect was acquitted, Punjab Prosecution Department Secretary Nadeem Sarwar informed in a press conference in Lahore, as per the report.

Sri Lankan mob lynching case

On December 3, 2021, a mob lynched a Sri Lankan national- Priyantha Kumara before setting his body on fire over allegations of blasphemy. According to a Pakistani official, Kumara allegedly removed and tore a poster of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in which Quranic verses were inscribed. A couple of factory workers saw him and spread the word. The official outlined that on hearing what Kumara did, hundreds of men started gathering outside the factory from adjoining areas, most of whom were activists and supporters of the TLP.

 "The mob dragged the suspect (the Sri Lankan national) from the factory and severely tortured him. After he succumbed to his wounds, the mob burnt his body before police reached there," the official said.

After facing backlash from all corners, the then-Prime Minister Imran Khan had reacted to the horrific Sialkot incident, calling it a 'black day for Pakistan'. The Pakistani PM had highlighted that he was 'overseeing the investigation' in the incident, and assured that all those responsible will be 'punished with the full severity of the law'.

Notably, the incident came shortly after the Imran Khan government lifted a ban on the TLP after signing a secret agreement with it. Following the agreement, TLP chief Saad Rizvi and over 1,500 activists accused of terrorism were released from jail. The hardline front in return had ended its week-long sit-in in Pakistan's Punjab province after withdrawing its demand of expelling the French ambassador on the issue of blasphemous cartoons in France.