Pakistan: 6 Sentenced to Death Over Killing of Sri Lankan Accused of 'Blasphemy'

Image used for representative purposes only. 

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Six men have received death sentences over the brutal mob lynching of a Sri Lankan man accused of blasphemy in Sialkot in the province of Punjab, Pakistan.

Of the 88 people who were convicted of the lynching, nine were sentenced to life imprisonment, while the others were given jail terms ranging from two to five years.

Priyantha Diyawadanage was a 48-year-old factory manager in Sialkot, who was beaten to death by a mob and his body set ablaze in December last year.

Condemning the act, the then Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had said after the lynching that he would personally oversee an investigation into "the horrific vigilante attack".

He had also said that it was "a day of shame for Pakistan".

"Let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law," he had tweeted.

The violence reportedly begun after rumours spread that Diyawadanage had allegedly committed "blasphemy" by tearing down posters with the name of the Prophet Muhammad, which were actually posters of the hardline group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in which Quranic verses were inscribed.

The blasphemy laws in Pakistan today are contained in Chapter XV (titled Of Offences Relating to Religion) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

You can read more about Pakistan's blasphemy laws here.