Court sentences Pak student’s killer to death

Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Wednesday sentenced the killer of Mashal Khan, a student of Bacha Khan University, to death and awarded 25 years imprisonment to five co-accused.

Announcing the verdict in Mashal Khan Lynching case, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Haripur sentenced accused Imran to death.

ATC Jugde Fazal Khan Subhan read out the verdicts against each of the 57 men accused in the case one-by-one. Tight security arrangements were in place due to the sensitivity of the case, with roads leading to the Haripur Central jail being closed.

The court also sentenced 25 accused for four years in prison each and acquitted 26 people in the case.

Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government decided to file an appeal against acquittal of suspects in the case.

Mashal Khan, a mass communication student at Mardan’s Abdul Wali Khan University, was lynched to death by a mob of angry students on April 13 last year over rumors that he and his friends committed blasphemy.

After his murder, Supreme Court of Pakistan’s chief justice took notice and ordered a judicial inquiry. For this purpose, a Joint Investigation Team was formed to investigate what led to the gruesome murder.

The JIT report had revealed that the lynching Mashal Khan who was falsely accused of blasphemy was organized by other students from his own secular political group who viewed him as a rival and faculty members who resented his criticism of the university.

The report also revealed that officials from the university administration were also involved in his murder. The report also stated that there were no solid proofs found about blasphemy committed by Mashal.