A man was killed by a mob over alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in the Madyan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat district on Thursday night.
According to reports, the police had moved the suspect of the alleged desecration incident to the police station but a charged mob “attacked the police station and took the suspect away”.
People set fire to the police station and a mobile vehicle and then the suspect was “torched”.
Videos making the rounds on social media show a mob circling a body on fire in the middle of the road as well as people gathered in huge numbers outside a police station.
Following the incident, many people took to social media to condemn the incident.
Warning: Graphic images
Another day, another act of cruelty & extremism in the name of religion in Pakistan. A local tourist was lynched, and his body was set on fire by a mob in #Swat Valley.
When allegations of desecrating holy book were raised against him, he was taken to… pic.twitter.com/dXZKBeLGYO
— Absa Komal (@AbsaKomal) June 20, 2024
I request to local tourists please avoid going to Swat, Naran, Kaghan, or anywhere in KPK this summer. Instead go to Gilgit-Baltistan , You will experience real hospitality, the best traditional foods, and no fear of being looted or labelled as blasphemous.
— Syed Zaighum Kazmi (@syedzaighum110) June 20, 2024
Man burned alive by a religiously charged mob in Swat (Priyantha Kumara style). A country where life is *this* fragile & precarious, why would anyone want to invest in our economy? This is the only ‘tourism’ that Pakistan has to offer. This is your only ‘exportable commodity’ pic.twitter.com/qeVvHt1Q9L
— Muneeb Qadir (@muneebqadirmmq) June 20, 2024
The incident of mob violence in Swat once again shows the existential threat posed to society by religious extremism. The state is not helpless but actively nurtures extremist groups as proxies for short-term objectives. Pakistan is paying the cost of these suicidal policies.
— Ammar Ali Jan (@ammaralijan) June 21, 2024
Read more: No improvement in Pakistan’s human rights situation: US report
Madyan is one of the famous tourist spots of Swat Valley. It is around 245 kilometres from the provincial capital of Peshawar.
A statement posted by the PTI said KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur took notice of the “unfortunate” incident and contacted the provincial police chief on the matter.
Last month, police saved a Christian man from enraged people in Sargodha on allegations of desecration of the Holy Quran, who died nine days later from his injuries.
