Multan, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani courts sentenced Muslim women to death after pleading blasphemy in a text message sent to a friend the Islamic prophet Muhammad, officials said Thursday. rice field.
Aneeqa Atteeq, a woman, was arrested in May 2020 after a man warned police that he had sent a portrait of a Prophet via WhatsApp.
Under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, anyone convicted of insulting a religion or a religious person can be sentenced to death. Authorities have not yet sentenced to death for blasphemy, but only accusations can cause riots.
According to a court order, the woman was also sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Government official Awais Ahmed said the court issued a verdict against Atteeq on Wednesday at Rawalpindi, a garrison.
National and international human rights groups state that blasphemous claims have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and determine individual scores. In December, a Muslim mob landed at a sporting goods factory in Pakistan’s Sialkot district, killing a Sri Lankan man on suspicion of blasphemy and burning his body publicly.
The case led to national criticism, and authorities arrested dozens of people for their involvement in the killing of Priyantha Kumara. People involved in the Kumara murder are being tried in Pakistan.