Pakistan Man Tortured, Burnt Alive Over Quran Desecration, 27 Arrested

In a shocking incident that took place in Pakistan’s Swat, a mob allegedly tortured a man to death by burning him alive over alleged desecration of the Holy Quran.

Meanwhile, police have arrested 27 suspects including two brothers, ARY News reported on Sunday.

The incident occurred on June 20 in Madyan, a town in the Swat district, a popular tourist spot located 340 km from the capital city of Islamabad.

According to Swat District Police Officer (DPO) Zahidullah Khan, the police had moved the suspect of the alleged desecration incident to the police station but a charged mob “attacked the police station and took the suspect away”.

“People set fire to the police station and a mobile vehicle,” the DPO said, adding that the suspect was “torched”.

Videos making the rounds on social media show a mob circling a body on fire in the middle of the road, along with a large number of people outside a police station. Dawn.com’s correspondent has reached out to the police for confirmation of the footage, Dawn reported.

DPO Khan said a heavy police force was deployed in Madyan and was trying to control the tense situation.

Furthermore, the police teams are conducting raids for more arrests in the Madyan incident.

Earlier, Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal condemned the lynching incident in Swat and called to stop this ‘street justice’.

Ahsan Iqbal during the budget debate in the National Assembly, called the incident horrific.

Ahsan said that parliament had to take stern notice of “mob justice”, as it had brought Pakistan “to the brink of destruction”.

“We must take notice of this incident. We have now reached to a point where religion being used to justify mob violence and street justice, flagrantly violating the Constitution, the law and the state,” he lamented.

At least 2,120 people are reported to have been accused of committing blasphemy between 1987 and 2022, as per Dawn.

Last month, police saved a Christian man from enraged people in Sargodha on allegations of desecration of the Holy Quran, He died nine days later due to his injuries.

In 2022, a middle-aged man was stoned to death by a mob over alleged desecration in a remote village of Khanewal district.