Two Pakistanis narrowly escape being burned alive for ‘blasphemy’

A spiritual healer in Pakistan and his “accomplice” narrowly avoided being burned alive by a mob of 3,000 who believed he deliberately set fire to “holy” Koranic verses.

The incident took place at Chandni Chowk, Orangi Town within the jurisdiction of Pakistan Bazaar Police Station earlier this week.

Abdul Jabbar, 45, who was arrested after his ordeal, claims that he was burning rubbish and that the flames had spread, engulfing papers with “sacred” verses on them.

According to this report in the Daily Times, neighbours saw the fire and assumed that Jabbar was desecrating “holy” material. Word of his “blasphemy” quickly spread, and a mob surrounded his home.

These guys got away with burning a Koran - but they were Hindu radicals, and the desecration took place in India about four years ago

Jabbar and a man called Naimatullah were seized and beaten, and the mob then attempted to burn them alive. But police arrived in time to save the two men from being burned to death.

Police spokesman Fasih-uz-Zaman said:

At least three thousand people gathered around the den to kill and burn them. We reached there on time otherwise they would have been burnt alive.  Some policemen sustained minor injuries when people lashed out at them and hit them.

According to the police officer, Jabbar had set alight the Koranic verses while casting a spell . The police claim to have found material that Jabbar had been using for “black magic and reciting spells”.

He and Naimatullah have now been charged under Section 295-B of the penal code that covers “defiling, damaging or desecrating a copy of the Koran”. If  convicted, the two men face life imprisonment.