News Desk

A tourist has been dragged from a police station and killed by a mob in north-west Pakistan after being accused of blasphemy.

In the Swat area town of Madyan, the police had been trying to shield the man from the big group. The individual was accused on Thursday of desecrating the Quran, the holy book of Islam, which prompted the crowd to assemble.

Following accusations that he had burned pages from the Quran, a Christian man was attacked last month and died soon after. Social media in Pakistan has been enraged by a video of this most recent occurrence.

The man was apparently visiting the Swat Valley, a well-liked summer getaway, when authorities first rescued him. Mohammad Ali Gandapur, the regional police chief for the Malankand district, accused the local mosque of inciting people to congregate.

Police in the Swat area, Dr. Zahidullah, told BBC Urdu that on Thursday night, they made a determined attempt to unblock highways in order to disperse the irate groups of people.

A case has reportedly been launched by the police against hundreds of participants in the incident, some of them are as young as 13. Since then, the local government has sent more security personnel to the area.

Hotels in the town were booked up, but visitors were rushing out, according to BBC Urdu. Since blasphemy was declared illegal in Pakistan in the 1980s by a British-imposed statute from the 19th century and carried the death penalty, the country has seen an increase in violence motivated by religion.

Protests and violent mob actions against those accused of crimes can be sparked by baseless accusations as well. Critics of human rights have long maintained that allegations are frequently made against minorities.

Muslims make up over 96% of the population of Pakistan. For insulting a religion, other nations such as Mauritania, Brunei, and Iran also have the death penalty in place.