Mashal Murder Case: One handed down death, five life imprisonment

HARIPUR (92 News) – An ant-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday awarded death sentence to one accused in Mashal Khan murder case, while sending five other accused to prison for 25 years. ATC Special Judge Fazal-e-Subhan Khan announced the reserved verdict in the heavily guarded Central Jail Haripur. Announcing the verdict, the court sentenced one of the accused to death, while sending five suspects to prison for 25 years. The court has also acquitted 26 alleged suspects involved in the lynching of a student of Mass Communications at the Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan. 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”. The lynching took place within the university premises and was recorded on video which was later circulated on social media. Extra security arrangements had been made due to the sensitivity of the case with roads leading to jail being closed. The prison administration has also banned the entry of visitors. The brutal incident shocked the nation and sparked a debate over the misuse of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan.