Sahiwal’s Anti-terrorism Court (ATC) has awarded the death sentence to a Christian man who allegedly circulated a social media post that led to riots in Jaranwala last year, reports Dawn.
Judge Ziaullah Khan sentenced the young man to 22 years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs1 million. The final judgment said he was awarded the death sentence and a fine of Rs500,000 under Section 295(C), ten years rigorous imprisonment under Section 295(A), seven years under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, and five years and Rs500,000 fine under 7(1) (G)-ATA.
The Punjab police claimed last year that around 135 miscreants had been booked for the attacks, but according to Advocate Akmal Bhatti, only 12 people are currently facing trials in the court.
However, the convict was accused of sharing a social media post which allegedly contained blasphemous content.
He was picked up by police on intelligence reports three days after the riots.
Complainant Amir Farooq, who is now SHO at the Ghala Mandi police, told Dawn that while the man in question did not produce the blasphemous content, he did share it on TikTok, where it went viral.
Background
In March, Faisalabad ATC had acquitted two Christian brothers who were ‘framed’ for desecration after a police probe revealed that the two had been implicated in a blasphemy case over a personal enmity.
Dozens of Christian homes and around 20 churches were vandalised and ransacked by mobs in Jaranwala following allegations that a copy of the Holy Quran had been desecrated.
