National

SC hears Mashal Khan lynching case, ensures complete justice

April 19, 2017

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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court began hearing a suo moto case on Wednesday regarding the lynching of Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old student of Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan.

This three-member bench was headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. The Chief Justice has said that justice will be ensured in Mashal Khan lynching case. According to details, SC conducted the hearing in open court during which Justice Umar Ata Bandial directed the investigation officers not to restrict the investigation to statements only. He also demanded a clarification from Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pervaiz Khattak and ordered fair inquiry into the matter.

On April 12, a large mob attacked journalism student, Mashal Khan and shot him before throwing him off the second floor of his hostel for what they called were “liberal” views.The administration had claimed that an investigation was called out against Khan and two friends after they had a debate with other students over religion. The debate had became so heated that teachers had to lock him in a room for his own safety.

The way Mashal Khan was attacked and killed shocked the public and led to widespread condemnation, including Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif who vowed to prosecute the perpetrators.

Soon after the incident, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Saqib Nisar took suo moto notice and issued notifications to Advocate General, KP Inspector General (IG) Salahuddin Khan Mehsud and the university registrar to appear in the court.

In his report submitted to the SC, KP IG has also stated that no evidence of blasphemy against Mashal Khan was found whereas 26 suspects including six university workers have been arrested so far. He said that assistance from Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was requested for the verification of deceased’s social media accounts.

Prime suspect Wajahat Khan recorded his statement, saying that he and Mashal Khan often indulged in idealogical arguments with each other. He told that Abdullah and Zubair also shared the ideas of Mashal Khan. He further said that security in charge Bilal Bakhsh provoked all the people present in the office after which they rushed to Mashal’s room.

National Assembly also unanimously approved resolution condemning murder of Mashal Khan as the members resolved that nobody should be allowed to take law into his hands.

Vigilantes have murdered 65 people over blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to research compiled by the Center for Research and Security Studies think-tank.