Residents stand amid debris beside the torched Saint John Church in Jaranwala on the outskirts of Faisalabad on August 17, 2023, a day after an attack by Muslim men following allegations spread that Christians had desecrated the Koran. - Police were guarding a Christian neighbourhood in central Pakistan on August 17, after hundreds of Muslim men rampaged through its streets setting fire to churches and ransacking homes over accusations of blasphemy a day earlier. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
SAHIWAL: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has sentenced the Christian young man to death for allegedly circulating a social media post that led to riots in Jaranwala in August last year.
Along with the death sentence, the Christian youth was also awarded 22 years in prison and a fine of Rs 1 million.
The judgment stated that the Christian youth has been sentenced to death and fined Rs500,000 under Section 295(C), 10 years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 295(A), seven years under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, and five years imprisonment plus a Rs500,000 fine under 7(1)(G)-ATA.
Sahiwal ATC Special Judge Ziaullah Khan announced the verdict in the case regarding the mob violence and riots in Jaranwala after the allegation of Quran desecration.
A mob enraged set on fire Dozens of Christian homes and around 20 churches in Jaranwala tehsil of Faisalabad over blasphemy allegations last year.
According to the Punjab police, over 135 miscreants had been booked last year for vandalism in the minority community. However, chairman of the Minorities Alliance Advocate Akaml Bhatti claimed that most of the accused had either been released and hardly 12 people are currently facing trials.
Earlier this year in March, a Faisalabad ATC had acquitted two Christian brothers who were ostensibly ‘framed’ for desecration after a police probe revealed that the two had been implicated in a blasphemy case over a personal enmity.
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