Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Pakistan Arrests 22 After Student Lynched Over Blasphemy

Pakistani police say they have arrested 22 suspects in the lynching of a university student who was accused of blasphemy.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say they have arrested 22 suspects in the lynching of a university student who was accused of blasphemy.

Salahuddin Mehsud, police chief for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Monday that the 16 students and six university employees are believed to have incited or taken part in the mob that killed 23-year-old Mohammad Mashal Khan last week.

He says no evidence has been found to indicate that Khan committed blasphemy against Islam, which is punishable by death in Pakistan and can incite deadly riots.

The student was beaten and shot to death at a university in the northwestern city of Mardan on Thursday.

Pakistan had recently vowed to combat the sharing of blasphemous material on social media.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Categories / Criminal, Government, International, Politics

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...