- WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT
A gang in northwestern Pakistan broke into a police station, took away a man being held there and then lynched him over allegations that he had desecrated Islam’s holy book, the Quran.
The dead man, Mohammad Ismail, was a tourist who had been staying at a hotel in the city when a gang of locals turned on him and accused him of blasphemy.
According to local police officials, the attackers also set fire to the station in Madyan, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and burned police vehicles parked there.
Gruesome footage shows the cheering crowd swelling around their victim before burning the man to death.
Photos of the aftermath show overturned and burnt-out cars and debris across the street, with concerned locals assessing the aftermath of the violent scenes.
Hundreds gathered to lynch man accused of blasphemy, taken from a police station, murdered and set on fire
A cheering crowd is seen surrounding the victim, who is beaten to death and then set on fire
Many in the violent crowd filmed and cheered the horrific lynching of the tourist
Police officers investigate burnt vehicles torched during an attack by a Muslim mob in Madyan, Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
Local residents look at a site where a Muslim mob lynched and burned a man over blasphemy accusations
Police have registered a case against hundreds of people who took part in the attack and are trying to identify those involved in the attack on the station and the man’s murder.
Police official Rahim Ullah said officers took the man to the station for his protection, but the crowd swelled and chased them.
Hundreds of ‘enraged’ locals then attacked the station, seized Ismail, beat him to death and then burned his body and left it on the road.
Additional police forces have arrived in Madyan to control the situation, Ullah said.
The victim has been identified in local media as a tourist from Sialkot, Punjab.
It was not immediately known if any of the attackers were arrested.
Attacks on people accused of blasphemy are common in this conservative Islamic nation, where blasphemy charges can carry the death penalty.
International and national rights groups say blasphemy accusations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.
Women and children look at a site where a Muslim mob lynched and burned a man over accusations that he had desecrated Islam’s holy book
Burned debris can be seen across the area where hundreds took part in a violent attack
Armed police investigate burnt vehicles torched by Muslim mobs during last night’s attack
Plainclothes police officers examine the burnt furniture set on fire by the crowd
Last month, a gang in Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab launched a deadly attack on a Christian man after accusing him of desecrating pages from the Quran.
Nazir Masih, 74, and his son were confronted by an angry mob at their home in the city of Sargodha, Punjab province, on May 25 after allegedly desecrating the holy book.
The blasphemy accusations against Masih are believed to have been false, and his family has denied the claims.
The factory owner and his son continued to come under attack, with attackers punching, kicking and hurling stones at them before setting fire to the family’s home and Masih’s factory.
Twelve members of Masih’s family managed to escape, while his son was beaten and the pensioner seriously injured before police arrived and managed to pull him away from the crowd.