The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Man stoned to death by mob in Pakistan
An enraged mob stoned a middleaged man to death for allegedly desecrating the Koran in a remote village in eastern Pakistan, police have said.
The custodian of a local mosque said he saw the man burning the Muslim holy book inside the mosque on Saturday evening and told others before informing police, according to police spokesman Chaudhry Imran.
The violence took place in a village in the district of Khanewal in Punjab province.
Mr Imran said police rushed to the scene, where a man was found surrounded by an angry crowd.
Officer Mohammad Iqbal and two subordinates tried to take custody of the man but the group began throwing stones at them, seriously injuring Mr Iqbal and slightly injuring the other two officers.
Mr Imran said the identity of the man was not yet known.
Munawar Gujjar, chief of Tulamba police station, said he rushed reinforcements to the mosque but they did not arrive before the mob had stoned the man to death and hung his body from a tree.
Mosque custodian Mian Mohammad Ramzan said he saw smoke inside the mosque, which is adjacent to his home, and rushed over to investigate.
He found one Koran burned and saw a man attempting to burn another. He said people were starting to arrive for evening prayers as he was shouting for the man to stop.
Witnesses said a police team that reached the village before the stoning began took custody of a man, but the mob snatched him away from them and beat the officers as they tried to rescue him.
Later, more officers arrived and took control, taking custody of the body, which was transported to a hospital for post-mortem examination.
Police chief Mr Gujjar said investigators were scanning available videos to try to identify the assailants, who face arrest.
Allama Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, an aide on religious affairs to prime minister Imran Khan, condemned the killing and pledged to bring the culprits to justice.
He said no one had the right to take the law into their own hands, even if a suspect was involved in an offence, including blasphemy.
The killing comes months after the lynching, on December 3, of a Sri Lankan manager of a sporting goods factory in Sialkot in Punjab province, who was accused by workers of blasphemy.
Mob attacks on people accused of blasphemy are common in the conservative Islamic nation.
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan but national rights groups say blasphemy accusations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.