Man lynched for blasphemy after Khan party rally in Pakistan

AFP :
A man was beaten to death by a mob after being accused of blasphemy at a rally for former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s party, officials said Sunday.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can stir mobs and violence.

Video of the lynching has been shared widely on social media, with police seen vainly trying to stop a frenzied mob from beating the alleged blasphemer.
The incident took place on Saturday in the Sawal Dher area of Mardan city in the country’s ultra-conservative northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

Police said a man identified as Nigar Alam was asked to deliver the concluding prayer at a rally organised by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party when the crowd took offence to his comments.

He managed to flee the scene, police said, but a mob tracked him down to a relative’s house.
“A group of individuals climbed over the wall, barged inside, and beat him to death with sticks and batons,” said district police chief Najeeb-ur-Rehman
“The mob was so agitated that it became extremely challenging for the police to even recover the body,” he told AFP.
Another local police official, Umair Khan, confirmed the incident.