LAHORE – An anti-terrorism court has indicted 89 accused of lynching of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara over blasphemy allegations in Sialkot last year.
Reports in local media said judge Natasha Naseem presided over the case’s hearing today in Kot Lakhpat jail of Punjab capital and summoned 14 prosecution witnesses on Monday. All of the accused pleaded not guilty of killing the foreign national.
Senior Special Prosecutor Abdul Rauf Wattoo among five prosecutors appeared in jail today for the trial. Nearly 40 witnesses have been made part of the challan by the prosecution.
Clips, DNA evidence, digital evidence, forensic evidence, eyewitnesses were made part of the investigation, as per challan.
Footages from multiple video recorders in the factory were sent for forensic analysis, and the accused persons were detained using clips from social media and footage recovered from the mobile phones of some accused.
The development comes nearly two months after Lankan citizen Priyantha Kumara, who was working as a factory manager in Sialkot, was brutally killed and burned over blasphemy allegations.
Sri Lankan manager tortured to death at Sialkot factory over ‘blasphemy’
Hundreds of people were booked including workers of the factory under sections 302, 297, 201, 427, 431, 157, 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 and 11WW of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The heinous incident sparked outrage and condemnation across the South Asian country with politicians, scholars, and civil society members calling for stern punishment for culprits.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also reacted vowing to personally oversee investigation into the horrific vigilante attack which he also called a day of shame for Pakistan. “Let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law,” Khan wrote in social media post.
Pakistan s top religious body says no place for violence over blasphemy in Islam
