According to authorities on Wednesday, two women who killed their madrassa instructor on the grounds that she had committed blasphemy have been condemned to death.
Blasphemy is such a violent accusation that even unverified claims of offending Islam have sparked violent vigilantism.
Northwest Dera Ismail Khan city “three female students allegedly slaughtered their local female cleric over blasphemy allegations” in March 2022, according to police.
According to local police officer Muhammad Haris, a district judge “handed down the death penalty to two local madrasa students and a life sentence to one upon proving their involvement in the murder.”
According to him, the person facing death sentences is 23 or 24 years old, while the person facing life in prison is 16 years old.
Before that executions of women were not frequent, but many female inmates have languished on death row for years.
Pakistan has been hit by a spate of high-profile blasphemy cases in recent weeks.
In February, police were forced to intervene in Lahore when a woman wearing a shirt adorned with Arabic calligraphy was surrounded by a mob accusing her of blasphemy.
The crowd of men said the clothing depicted the Holy Quran but it was in fact emblazoned with the Arabic word for “beautiful”.
Pakistan’s top Supreme Court judge has also been targeted by veiled death threats after ordering the release of a man accused of disseminating a blasphemous text.
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