The family of a doctor accused of blasphemy in Pakistan stated on Monday that he was killed by police while in custody in southern Pakistan, after he surrendered voluntarily, believing he would have the opportunity to prove his innocence. They refuted police claims that he was accidentally killed in a shootout. If true, this incident would mark the second extrajudicial killing in just one week, prompting condemnation from human rights organizations.
Shah Nawaz, a doctor from Umerkot district in Sindh province, had been hiding after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and posting blasphemous content on Facebook. Nawaz contended that his account had been hacked and that he hadn’t made any derogatory posts about Islam.
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According to his family, he was arrested last Wednesday and killed within hours in a staged encounter with police. Officials reported that a mob burned down Nawaz’s clinic on the same day.
Police claimed Nawaz was unintentionally killed when officers in Mirpur Khas signaled for two men on a motorcycle to stop, but the men opened fire and attempted to flee, leading to police returning fire and killing one of them. They stated they only identified the deceased as the doctor wanted for alleged blasphemy after the shootout.
Nawaz’s mother, Rehmat Kunbhar, demanded justice for her son, stating, “I did not know that police would kill him.” She explained that they had encouraged him to face the investigation after police assured them he would be protected. She also noted that posts on Facebook continued after his arrest, indicating someone else had hacked his account.
Nawaz’s father, Mohammad Saleh, recounted how a mob took his son’s body and burned it in front of him. “They sprinkled petrol on my son’s body and set it ablaze, and I could only watch,” he said.
In response to the incident, police arrested nine individuals for taking and burning Nawaz’s body. Noor Mohammad, a police investigator, reported that authorities are pursuing over 100 individuals involved in the violence surrounding Nawaz’s arrest.
On Friday, police suspended the officers involved in the shooting, who had received praise and were showered with rose petals by local residents following the incident. Civil society members visited Nawaz’s village on Thursday to pay their respects, placing flowers on his grave.
Nawaz’s widow, Niamat Bibi, expressed her fear, stating, “We cannot send our children to school.”
Accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan can lead to riots and mob violence, and while mob killings of blasphemy suspects are not uncommon, extrajudicial killings by police are rare. A week prior to Nawaz’s death, an officer shot and killed Syed Khan, another blasphemy suspect, in a police station in Quetta. Khan had been rescued from a mob that claimed he insulted the Prophet. The officer responsible for Khan’s death was arrested, but the slain man’s family later forgave him.
Under Pakistan’s contentious blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or its figures can face the death penalty, though no executions for blasphemy have been carried out to date.
