Two men jailed for life in Mashal Khan blasphemy lynching case
Two men in Pakistan have been jailed for life for their role in the lynching of a university student accused of blasphemy.
Two years ago Mashal Khan was fatally attacked by a mob on campus in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
An investigation later found blasphemy allegations made against Khan after a debate about religion were false.
On March 21 an anti-terrorism court sentenced two men to life imprisonment and acquitted two others.
Arif Khan, a local government official who had been a member of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was convicted for provoking and participating in the lynch mob.
Initially, a total of 61 people suspected of involvement in the lynching were charged in the first information report.
Out of them, 57 were sentenced by a court on February 7, 2018.