Man held under blasphemy law burnt to death by mob in Pak

A man arrested under Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law was burnt to death by a mob after over 1,000 people stormed a police station in a village in Sindh province.

The shocking incident of vigilantism occurred in Sita village of Dadu district yesterday, media reports said today.

The unidentified man in his thirties was assaulted and burnt to death while several policemen looked on and did nothing to stop the mob, th reports said.

Usman Memon, the prayer leader of a mosque at Sita village, told the media that the man, who was lynched by the mob, was apparently a traveller and had stayed at the mosque for a night.

"He offered Isha prayers (on Thursday) and spent the night here. When (worshippers) came to the mosque for Fajr prayers (on Friday morning), we found charred copies of the Holy Quran," Memon was quoted as saying.

People suspected the man was responsible for the act since he was alone in the mosque. They handed him over to police and filed an FIR against him.

After the village mosques made announcements about the incident, over 1,000 people from Sita village and its surrounding areas attacked the police station at 8 am.

The mob overpowered policemen and assaulted the man before setting him on fire at the main chowk in Sita village, located two kilometres from the police station.

Senior Superintendent of Police Usman Ghani said 10 policemen present in the police station at the time of incident, including police station chief Baharuddin Keerio, were suspended.

The 10 policemen have been charged with negligence.