Pakistan Court Sentences 22 People to 5 Yrs in Jail For Vandalising Hindu Temple

Hundreds of people had on 4 August 2021 vandalised a Ganesh temple in Rahim Yar Khan district.

An anti terrorism court in Pakistan on Wednesday, 11 May, sentenced 22 people to 5 year imprisonment for vandalising a Hindu temple in the country's Punjab province last year.

(Photo: Twitter/Naila Inayat/Altered by The Quint)

An anti terrorism court in Pakistan on Wednesday, 11 May, sentenced 22 people to 5 years imprisonment for vandalising a Hindu temple in the country's Punjab province last year.

The incident which took place on 4 August 2021 had seen hundreds of people thronging to a Ganesh temple in Rahim Yar Khan district's Bhong town and vandalising its doors, windows, and idols with sticks and stones, , reported Scroll.in.

The temple is situated approximately 590 km from Lahore. According to the police, the mob destroyed idols while shouting slogans and also torched a part of the temple.

The vandalism happened after a local court had granted bail to a nine-year-old boy who was booked under the country's blasphemy laws for urinating inside a Muslim seminary.

Background

Police had identified and took at least 84 accused into custody. Their trail had begun in September 2021 and concluded last week. Of the 84 accused, court has acquitted 62 people giving them the benefit of doubt and sentenced the remaining 22 with five years in jail.

"On Wednesday, ATC Judge (Bahwalpur) Nasir Hussain announced the verdict. The judge handed down imprisonment of five years each to 22 suspects while acquitting the remaining 62 people, giving them a benefit of doubt,” a court official told news agency PTI.

The 22 persons were reportedly found guilty on the basis of videos from the scene and dispositions made by the witnesses. They were brought to the court from the New Central jail amid tight security.

A report in the Scroll.in pointed out that the mob took to vandalism even after Hindus apologised for the act of the nine-year-old and stated that he was a minor. However, a social media post triggered Bhong residents to take revenge for the desecration and hence the violence ensued.

Following the attack at the temple, based on Supreme Court's order the government had also collected Rs 4 lakhs as compensation from the accused and restored the temple. "The vandalism at the temple has brought shame to Pakistan as the police acted as silent spectators," Gulzar Ahmed, the then Chief Justice of Pakistan had said.

"Imagine what mental agony the desecration incident had brought to the members of the Hindu community,” the chief justice had observed, according to PTI.

The country's parliament had also adopted a unanimous resolution condemning the vandalism. A resolution was also passed for the creation of Commission for Minority Affairs in Khyber Pakjtunkhwa

(With inputs from PTI, Scroll.in)