WATCH: Hindu man falsely accused of blasphemy escapes lynching in Pakistan's Hyderabad

New Delhi: In one horrific incident of persecution of minorities in Pakistan, a Hindu man had a narrow escape from death as a murderous mob gathered around an apartment building to lynch him in Hyderabad city on Sunday.

However, police managed to disperse the crowd and arrest the Hindu man who has been falsely accused of blasphemy, local media reports said.

Videos of the mob trying to attack the man identified as Ashok Kumar has been doing the rounds on social media.

حیدرآباد میں انسان کے خون کے پیاسے درندے۔ pic.twitter.com/cXNsMb4XBX

— Rab Nawaz Baloch (@RabNBaloch) August 21, 2022

What happened

According to local media reports, Kumar, a sweeper was falsely accused of desecrating the Quran following a brawl with a Muslim shopkeeper who filed a complaint against him. Kumar was reportedly lodged at Rabia centre in Hyderabad.

Also read: Sikh girl abducted at gunpoint, raped and converted to Islam in Pakistan; community holds protest

"Hindu sanitary worker Ashok Kumar booked under 295B of blasphemy over alleged desecration of the Quran in Hyderabad. The allegation came after a brawl with shopkeeper Bilal Abbasi who then lodged the complaint against Kumar," Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat wrote on Twitter.

Hyderabad police dispersed a violent mob which was demanding handing over a Hindu sanitary worker accusing him of #blasphemy Police claims the sanitary worker was targeted because of a personal clash with a local resident pic.twitter.com/CnSFLNLqhH — Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) August 21, 2022

However, it was actually a Muslim woman who had burned the Quran, ANI reported citing local media.

The incident comes less than a year after a mob lynched a Sri Lankan national in Pakistan's Sialkot.

Blasphemy cases in Pakistan

The misuse of the draconian blasphemy laws against minorities and even members of the Muslim community to settle personal grudges is rampant in Pakistan.

Many people have been lynched to death in Pakistan on the mere accusation of blasphemy. Countless others languish in jails for years with no hope of getting justice as the lawyers, fearing for their own lives, refuse to defend them.

Judges in the lower courts routinely hand the accused the ultimate penalty of death without examining the evidence.

Notably, Pakistan reported a total of 1,415 cases of blasphemy in the country since 1947, a think tank, ANI quoted the Centre for Research and Security Studies as saying. According to the think tank report, a total of 18 women and 71 men were extra-judicially killed over blasphemy from 1947 to 2021.

However, as per the think tank, the actual number of cases is believed to be higher as not all cases are reported, ANI reported.

According to reports, in the year 2021, Muslims made up the largest chunk of people accused of blasphemy, followed by Ahmadis, Hindus and Christians. The report suggested that the issues of 'unverified and speculative accusations' of blasphemy have increased over the years.

Because of these issues, the incidents of lynching and extrajudicial settlements have deepened in the South-Asian country.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.