GUJRAT: An additional district and sessions judge on Friday sentenced a 22-year-old accused of blasphemy to death, while sending another accused to jail for life in the same case.

The two suspects had been booked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the charges of sharing blasphemous material through WhatsApp, and a case was lodged in Lahore.

However, the case was referred by the Lahore High Court to a local court in Gujranwala for trial.

The person awarded a life term is a 17-year-old.

The plaintiff had alleged he had received the videos and photos from three different mobile phone numbers.

The FIA said that it had examined the plaintiff’s phone and established that “obscene material” had been sent.

Defence lawyers argued that the two students had been “trapped in a false case”.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

Military convictions
Updated 22 Dec, 2024

Military convictions

Pakistan’s democracy, still finding its feet, cannot afford such compromises on core democratic values.
Need for talks
22 Dec, 2024

Need for talks

FOR a long time now, the country has been in the grip of relentless political uncertainty, featuring the...
Vulnerable vaccinators
22 Dec, 2024

Vulnerable vaccinators

THE campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan cannot succeed unless the safety of vaccinators and security personnel...
Strange claim
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

In all likelihood, Pakistan and US will continue to be ‘frenemies'.
Media strangulation
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

Administration must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as an enabler or an executioner of press freedom.
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...