Murdered for Blasphemy in Pakistan

Muhammad Mushtaq, a mentally unstable Muslim, was murdered by a mob in Punjab, Pakistan the night of Saturday, February 12. The son of a Muslim prayer leader publicly accused him of burning pages of the Koran, Islam’s holy book. Retribution was swift. By the time police arrived, the man was unconscious and tied to a tree where he bled profusely. When police tried to intervene, the mob attacked them. Soon the deranged man was dead. There are about 100 people who have either been detained or arrested for the crime.
 
Pakistan has a harsh law against blasphemy, but mobs usually take matters into their own hands. Two months ago, a mob burned to death a Sri Lankan factory owner for the same charge. Human rights groups say that this kind of mob violence often has its roots in a personal vendetta or the desire to harm a minority religious community like Hindus or Christians.