The country's blasphemy law prohibits disturbing a religious assembly, trespassing on burial grounds, insulting religious beliefs or intentionally destroying or defiling a place or an object of worship. In Pakistan, it can carry a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam.
Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the "horrific vigilante attack" and vowed that "all those responsible will be punished with the full severity of the law".īlasphemy is defined as speaking insultingly about a particular religion or god. The scale of the vicious killing on Friday - involving hundreds of people - has shocked the nation and sparked vigils. He knew what he should not do there and that's how he managed to work there for eleven years."Īsia Bibi: Pakistan's notorious blasphemy caseĪcquitted of blasphemy and living in fear in Pakistan "He was very much aware of the living conditions in Pakistan. He was an innocent man," she told the BBC. "I totally reject reports that said my husband tore down posters in the factory. His wife has also denied the blasphemy claim.
The violence had begun after rumours spread that Mr Diyawadanage had allegedly committed a blasphemous action, in tearing down posters with the name of the Prophet Muhammad, local police chiefs said.īut a colleague, who rushed to the site in a bid to save him, told the Associated Press of Pakistan that Mr Diyawadanage had only removed the posters as the building was about to be cleaned. They then burnt his body, and several people in the crowd were seen taking selfies with his corpse. Videos of the lynching proliferated across social media over the weekend, and showed scenes of the incensed crowd dragging Mr Diyawadanage from his workplace and beating him to death. Nilushi Dissanayaka is distraught over her husband's killing