Mashal Khan was beaten and shot to death on April 13th 2017 for blasphemy; a crime that till date has not been proven. He was a student at Mardan Abdul Wali Khan University majoring in Mass Communication.
The horrendous act shook the nation and sparked a heated debate over the misusing of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan. The attack included 61 suspects that were caught on video and had occurred on the premises of the university of Mardan Abdul Wali Khan. Those involved were students, employees and PTI’s tehsil counselor, out of whom 57 were charged on February 7th 2018 and 4 still remain who’s first trial still remains to be heard.
Imran Ali the prime accuser confessed to the court of shooting Mashal and was sentenced to two counts of death by hanging.The proceedings of the case began on 21st June 2018, when the suspects who were AWOL surrendered themselves to the court of law. Therefore, the arguments of both sides were heard by the court and the verdict still remains to be heard by Mahmoodul Hassan Khattak the ATC-3 Judge. The lawyer that represented the state was Barrister Amirullah Chamkani, who argued to punish the accusers of maximum punishment for the crime they had committed.