ATC to announce judgement in Mashal Khan murder case today

HARIPUR (92 News) – An Anti-terrorism court (ATC) will today (Wednesday) announce the reserved judgement of Mashal Khan murder case. The Central Jail Haripur is heavily guarded and banned for all sorts of media. Special Judge ATC Fazal-e-Subhan Khan heard the case during more than five months where the court also recorded the statements of 57 accused. On January 28, the court in Abbottabad had reserved its judgement in the Mashal Khan murder case after the hearing of the case was completed. Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old student of journalism at the Abdul Wali Khan University was lynched to death on April 13, 2017 by an angry mob after allegations of blasphemy surfaced against him. The brutal, videotaped murder had shocked the nation, sparking a debate over the misuse of blasphemy laws in Pakistan. The Peshawar High Court had transferred the case from Mardan to ATC Abbottabad, which heard the case in the Haripur jail, on the request of Mashal’s father, who sought the move fearing his “influential adversaries”.