Daily Times

LAHORE: A 15-year-old boy near Lahore cut off his own hand believing he had committed blasphemy, only to be celebrated by his parents and neighbours for the act, police said on Friday.

Local police chief Nausher Ahmed described how an imam told a gathering at a village mosque that those who love Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) always say their prayers, then asked who among the crowd had stopped praying. Mohammad Anwar, 15, raised his hand by mistake after apparently mishearing the question. The crowd swiftly accused him of blasphemy so he went to his house and cut off the hand he had raised, put it on a plate, and presented it to the cleric, the police chief said.

The incident took place in a village in Hujra Shah Muqeem town, some 125 kilometres south of Lahore, about four days ago, according to the policeman. Ahmed said that he has seen a video in which the boy is greeted by villagers in the street as his parents proclaim their pride. No complaint has been filed, he said, so no police report has been filed and there will be no investigation.

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan and has often leads to mob lynching. Pakistan inherited its blasphemy law from former colonial power Britain, which devised the code to ensure communal harmony in the then undivided India. New sections were introduced in the 1980s under military ruler General Ziaul Haq, which elevated Islam above all other religions and introduced the death penalty as part of his broader Islamisation agenda. Critics say the blasphemy law, often misused by people carrying out personal vendettas, is feeding violence particularly against minorities.