According to a report by BBC, a court in Gujranwala has sentenced a 22-year-old student to death for blasphemy over WhatsApp messages.
The court ruled that the 22-year-old student shared blasphemous pictures and videos with the intent to provoke the religious sentiments of Muslims. In connection with the same case, a 17-year-old has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Both individuals have maintained their innocence throughout the proceedings. The case originated from a complaint filed in 2022 by the cybercrime unit of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Lahore.
Following this, the case was referred to a local court in Gujranwala for further investigation and trial.
In the recent ruling, the judges specified that the 22-year-old was sentenced to death for allegedly creating blasphemous photos and videos.
The younger defendant received a life sentence for allegedly sharing the material. The plaintiff alleged that he had received the videos and photos from three different mobile phone numbers.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) stated that it had conducted an examination of the plaintiff’s phone and confirmed the presence of “obscene material” that had been sent to him.
Defense lawyers contended that the two students had been ensnared in a fabricated case. The father of the death-row convict, whose identity remains undisclosed, informed the BBC that he plans to file an appeal in the Lahore High Court.
The court noted that the other student was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty due to being a minor.