Man sentenced to death in blasphemy case

ISLAMABAD:

A special court has convicted a man on charges of blasphemy, sentenced him to death with life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 0.7 million.

Muhammad Afzal Majoka, the judge of the special court set up this year to hear cases under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA), delivered the verdict on Saturday.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had registered a first information report (FIR) against Qaiser Sajjad, a resident of Tehsil Gujjar Khan, Rawalpindi district, on April 1, 2021, following a complaint of sharing blasphemous content.

The court sentenced Sajjad to death under Article 295-C and life imprisonment under Article 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for blasphemy. Moreover, he was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment under Section 11 of the PECA and fined a total of Rs 700,000 under various sections.

The court also ordered the Superintendent of Adiala Jail to jail the convict.