Pakistan: Hindu professor sentenced to life in Sindh for blasphemy

A court in Pakistan's Sindh province has sentenced a Hindu professor to life imprisonment and a fine for insulting the Prophet, but the accused's relatives have decided to challenge the decision in the High Court.

This is the first case of its kind in Sindh in recent times, in which a Hindu citizen has been sentenced on charges of blasphemy.

In the written decision of the court, it has been said that according to the prosecution, on September 14, 2019, the plaintiff Abdul Aziz Khan had filed a case at Ghotki police station. According to this, his son studies in a public school and he told him (his father) that the owner of the school Nutan Lal allegedly came to the class, "insulted the Prophet" and left.

According to the plaintiff's case, his son said this in the presence of two witnesses, Mohammad Naved and Waqas Ahmed.

Additional Sessions Judge Mumtaz Solanki, in his judgment, wrote that the witnesses produced by the prosecution are "independent and credible" and their statements are not "malicious" as none of them have personal animosity towards the accused. So there is no reason not to believe his testimony.

According to the court, the prosecution has been successful in proving the charges against the accused Nutan, and hence he is sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000. In default of payment of fine, the accused will have to spend another four months in jail. According to the verdict, the punishment will be applicable from the day of arrest.

Nutan's relative Mahesh Kumar told the BBC, 'Justice has not been done in this case. The verdict has been delivered under pressure."

He claimed that there was no eye-witness to the incident, but statements were given only on what was heard. He said that the people whom the plaintiffs have included as witnesses are also their neighbors.

Mahesh Kumar says that the Hindu community in Ghotki is under fear and pressure. Especially his family is also facing difficulties in advocating the case.

He alleged that the investigation of the case has been done by a junior officer instead of a senior police officer, which is against the law. Therefore, he will go to the High Court against this decision.

What happened that day?

According to the police, the controversy started with a conversation with Professor Nutan Lal while he was teaching Urdu in the class. After the class ended, one of his students went to the teacher of Islamic studies and accused Nutan Lal of using abusive language about the Prophet.

The teachers tried to resolve the matter and Nutan Lal apologized saying that he did not intend to hurt anyone's religious sentiments.

But that student mentioned this incident to his father and also posted it on Facebook, after which people got furious.

Following the incident, a strike was also held in the local market, during which a group attacked and ransacked Nutan's school building.

Apart from this, another group also attacked Nutan's house and also attacked and ransacked the Sai Sadh Ram temple.

After the situation became tense, the district administration had summoned the Rangers.