YouTuber accused of blasphemy over perfume name

LAHORE: A YouTuber has been charged with blasphemy after launching his perfume named after the blasphemy legislation in the penal code, police said on Tuesday.

Rajab Butt has been embroiled in controversy for years, including over his brief custody of a lion cub.

In a recent video, since deleted from his social media accounts, Butt launched his perfume whose name refers to anti-blasphemy clause in the penal code.

He said it followed a case filed against him last year, over an earlier video deemed blasphemous.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leader Haider Ali Shah Gillani filed a complaint late Monday, stating: “Our religious sentiments have been hurt.”

A police charge sheet seen by AFP and authenticated by a police official on Tuesday details the accusations against Butt, including blasphemy and cybercrime.

Butt issued an apology video on Sunday, asserting he is not against the country’s blasphemy laws.

“I apologise for the words I uttered during the launch of the perfume,” he said while holding a Quran. “I apologise and announce the discontinuation of this perfume,” he added.

In other legal troubles, Butt pleaded guilty in January to owning an undocumented wild animal after accepting a lion cub as a wedding gift. He avoided jail by promising a judge to post animal rights videos for a year.