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An enraged mob in Nankana Sahib on Saturday lynched a blasphemy-accused man after dragging him out of a police station where he had been detained, triggering outrage on social media and calls for the Punjab government to take immediate action against the culprits.
Videos of the incident that went viral on social media showed the mob—including minor children—storming the police station, and dragging a man out of the building. The mob can also be seen stripping the accused man, dragging him by his feet, and beating him to death before setting his body on fire. According to local media, the police deployed at the station fled when the mob swarmed it, fearing for their own lives.
Reportedly, locals had accused the victim of practicing witchcraft and desecrating the holy Quran. A case had subsequently been lodged against him at the police station and he was taken into protective custody pending trial. Reacting to the incident, which occurred in the Warburton area of the Punjab district, Inspector General of Police Usman Anwar suspended two police officers—the deputy superintendent of police and station house officer—and ordered an inquiry into the incident. “No one is allowed to take the law into their hands no matter how influential they are,” the IG Punjab was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Punjab Police. “Strict departmental and legal action will be taken against those responsible for the incident and the perpetrators of negligence and negligence.”
Tahir Ashrafi, the chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, condemned the incident, describing the lynching and burning of the body as a “cruel and criminal” act. “It is the responsibility of the Punjab government to take immediate action against all those culprits to arrest and punish them,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter. “All the [accomplices] in this act should be arrested and case should be tried in a terrorism court. No group, individual and organization has the right to take the law into their hands and do something that the law does not allow,” he added.