Pakistani student, 22, awarded death sentence over ‘blasphemous’ WhatsApp messages
A 22-year-old student was sentenced to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges for WhatsApp messages that a court ruled contained derogatory words
A 22-year-old student was sentenced to death in Pakistan on the charges of blasphemy over WhatsApp messages, reported BBC on Friday. According to the Pakistani court, the student had prepared ‘blasphemous’ pictures and videos on the messaging application that contained derogatory words about Prophet Muhammad and his wives. The court ruled that the messages were intended to outrage the religious feelings of Muslims.
Another 17-year-old student has also been sentenced to life imprisonment for sharing the ‘blasphemous’ material. The teenager has not been awarded the death sentence as he is a minor.
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A complaint regarding the two students' messages was filed in 2022 by the cybercrime unit of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Lahore. In the complaint, FIA said that it had examined the students' phones and found “obscene material”.
Both the students have denied the accusations, saying that they have been “trapped in a false case”, reported BBC.
Meanwhile, the father of the 22-year-old student has filed an appeal in the Lahore high court against the lower court's decision, BBC said.
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Blasphemy is the action of writing or speaking about God that shows a lack of respect. It is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty. Some accused have also been lynched before their cases went to trial.
In August last year, several churches were set on fire by a rampaging mob in eastern Pakistan after a Christian family was accused of blasphemy. The attack was triggered by a group of religious zealots accusing a local Christian family of desecrating the Quran. Several images on social media at that time had shown smoke rising from the church buildings and people setting fire to furniture.
(With inputs from agencies)
