Agencies
LAHORE: Pakistani blasphemy laws have claimed yet another woman victim.
A court here on Monday sentenced Salma Tanveer, who runs a private school, to death for distributing photocopies of her writings in which she allegedly denied the finality of prophethood and claimed herself as a prophet.
Sentencing her to death, Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi said, “It is proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused Salma Tanveer wrote and distributed the writings which are derogatory in respect of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and she failed to prove that her case falls in exception provided by Section 84 of PPC.”
The blasphemy case against her was registered in 2013 on the complaint of Qari Iftikhar Ahmad Raza, who is the mullah of a local mosque.
During the trial, the defence argued that the woman was of unsound mind and that the photocopies of the alleged documents she distributed were tampered with.
The prosecution presented 11 witnesses, including the mullah and police officials.
The judge, after going through the statements of the witnesses and their cross examination, observed that the oral and material evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that the suspect wrote and distributed the writings attributed to her.
“The convict Salma Tanveer is sentenced to death and fined Rs 50,000 under Section 295-C PPC,” the judge said in the verdict.
Pakistani blasphemy laws have often been used by people to settle personal scores.
ALSO READ: Bachabazi in Pakistan: How old men use young boys as sexual partners
