Daily Times

LAHORE: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Abbottabad on Tuesday started reviewing video footage in connection with the Mashal Khan murder case, defence and prosecution lawyers said.

An ATC judge was hearing the case inside the heavily guarded Haripur Central Jail.

In April, a vigilante mob, incited by rumours, had attacked Khan for allegedly “publishing blasphemous content online”. The mass communication student, enrolled at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM), was beaten and shot by the mob. He later succumbed to his injuries.

On Tuesday, the investigation officer of the case also appeared before the judge and submitted video recordings of the lynching.

“During the hearing, almost 23 video recordings were played through a projector,” a defence lawyer present at the court said. He added that while playing the footage, the investigation officer pointed out the accused and explained their role in the murder. The investigating officer informed the court that police had collected the video evidence from social media websites and also recovered some from the mobile phones of the accused arrested in the case.

The lawyer claimed that the visuals were important enough to prove the role of the accused in the ghastly murder.

So far, 48 witnesses have recorded their statements in connection with the case. A friend of Mashal Khan’s who was injured by the same mob on the same day of Khan’s lynching will also record his statement through video link, as he has fled the country due to threats to his life. The court is set to examine the rest of videos in the next hearing, fixed for November 30, 2017.

In July, Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Yahya Afridi had ordered the transfer of the murder case from Mardan to an ATC in Haripur Jail after Khan’s father requested the move fearing his “influential adversaries”.

Published in Daily Times, November 29^th 2017.