PESHAWAR: A local court on Thursday convicted a 42-year-old man of committing blasphemy through uploading a video on the internet and sentenced him to death along with a fine of Rs100,000.

Additional district and sessions judge Mohammad Tahir Aurangzeb pronounced that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused, Bashir Mastan, a resident of Charsadda, and the evidence on record connected him with commission of the offence.

The court convicted him under section 295-C of Pakistan Penal Code and while sentencing him to death ordered that the sentence should not be executed unless confirmed by the Peshawar High Court.

The judge ordered that necessary reference should be prepared and sent to the high court for confirmation of the death sentence. The judge also convicted the accused under section 298 PPC and sentenced him to two years rigorous imprisonment.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Inqilab police station in Peshawar by its SHO on Sept 7, 2020, under sections 295-C (derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet) and 298 (uttering words to wound religious feelings) of the PPC and section 15 of the Arms Act.

In the FIR, the SHO claimed that a video had gone viral wherein the suspect could be seen making false claim of his being a prophet. He stated that the said video had resulted into a public outcry.

The police claimed that the suspect was traced through his mobile phone connection and then taken into custody from residence of one of his relatives in Pandhu area. It was stated that a pistol was also recovered from the suspect.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2021