Pakistan
Six sentenced to death for lynching Priyantha Kumara
LAHORE:– An anti-terrorism court on Monday sentenced to death six culprits and handed life imprisonment to nine others in case pertaining to the lynching of Sri Lankan citizen Priyantha Kumara in Sialkot.
Judge Natasha Naseem of Gujranwala Anti-Terrorism Court delivered the verdict in Kot Lakhpat Jail.
A five-member prosecution team headed by Senior Special Prosecutor Abdul Rauf Wattoo completed the trial.
The court also awarded two years imprisonment to 72 cluprits.
A mob of over 800 men attacked a garment factory and lynched its general manager Priyantha Kumara, 47, and burned his body over allegations of blasphemy on December 3, in Sialkot district, some 100 km from provincial capital Lahore.
The incident saw widespread outrage and condemnation across Pakistan with politicians, scholars and civil society members calling for swift punishment to be meted out to the perpetrators.
