A Pakistani court on Wednesday convicted 31 people over the campus lynching of a university student who was falsely accused of blasphemy, and sentenced one of them to death, a defense lawyer said.
The killing of student Mashal Khan, 23, in 2017 sparked an outcry and raised fresh questions about the misuse of a harsh blasphemy law, which carries a death sentence for insulting Islam or the Prophet Muhammad.
NAN reports that On April 13, 2017 rumours spread that Khan had posted blasphemous material online, a crime punishable by death in Pakistan.
Hundreds of students and some university staff members marched through the campus searching for him.
They broke into his room and dragged him out. Widely circulated mobile phone footage showed him being beaten, stamped on and shot.
The crowd continued to attack his body after his death.
Media captionMashal Khan was killed by a mob of fellow students on campus
During their investigation, police determined there was no evidence Mr Khan had committed blasphemy.
His killing was ruled to have been premeditated murder.
Some of the 50 people who gave testimonies to the court said he had angered the university administration by criticising their management in the weeks before his death. (Reuters/NAN)