Karachi (AsiaNews /
Agencies) - A crowd of over 200 people beat and then burned to death a Muslim,
because he was suspected of desecrating pages of the Koran. The
murder happened this morning in the village
of Seeta, (district of
Sindh). The
victim, as yet unidentified, was in custody for a charge of blasphemy in the
local police station, when the mob broke in and dragged the man outside to take
justice into their own hands. At
present, the police have arrested 20 people.
According
to the account of Imam Usma Memon, the man was passing through the village. "On
20 December - he said - he asked for hospitality for the night in our mosque.
Before bedtime he prayed. The next morning, some believers found some burnt
pages of the Koran." Suspecting
that the traveler was responsible, they led him to the police in Rajo Dero and
registered a complaint against him for blasphemy. The
news of his arrest spread quickly: more than 200 people forced the police
station, took the man, and in front of 12 agents beat him and then set on fire.
The
local commissioner, Usman Ghani, said that 10 policemen present were suspended
and charged with negligence. The 200 people
were charged in accordance with art. 302
(murder) and 353 (obstruction and resisting a public officer) of the Pakistan
Penal Code.
Introduced
in 1986 by General Zia-ul-haq to meet the demands of the lunatic Islamic fringe
the blasphemy laws have so far caused the indictment of at least 1,000 people
and caused the murders of 60, most of them victims of extra-judicial killings by
angry mobs (as in this case) or individuals. There
are many Christians victims of the "black law" the case of Asia
Bibi is exemplary, a Christian laborer arrested in 2009 and since 2010 on
death row.