15 men who were named in the case have been convicted of lynching Sri Lankan citizen Priyantha Kumara on blasphemy allegations last year, with six of them getting death sentence. Nine convicts were given life imprisonment. An anti-terrorism court announced its decision in the Priyantha Kumara murder case on Monday.
72 other people who were named in the case were jailed for two years. One of the convicts was given a 5-year jail term while another accused was acquitted in the case. Punjab Prosecution Department Secretary Nadeem Sarwar announced the details while addressing a press conference in Lahore.
In December last year, a mob in Sialkot attacked and lynched a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Kumara, who had been working in Pakistan since 2012, and set his body on fire. The ill-fated man was accused of having committed blasphemy.
A few days after the incident, a condolence gathering was held for Priyantha Kumara at Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Islamabad. While addressing the ceremony, former PM Imran Khan had said that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are misused to wrongfully accuse people of sacrilege and kill them in the name of religion, adding that such violence only happens in Pakistan.
A certificate of appreciation was awarded to Malik Adnan, who had tried to save Priyantha Kumara from the mob that later lynched him and set his body on fire.
The incident drew widespread condemnation from religious as well as political quarters, and the local police was lauded for ensuring the incident is not justified or condoned.
