Court fixes date for verdict in Mashal lynching case

PESHAWAR: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Saturday fixed March 21 for a decision in the trial of remaining four accused persons in the Mashal Khan lynching case.

Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old student of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (Awkum), was lynched by a mob on April 13, 2017, after accusing him of blasphemy. However, the allegations were later proved to be false by a joint investigation team.

On March 12, the ATC judge had reserved the verdict for March 16 after lawyers from both the sides concluded their arguments. Earlier, the court had recorded the statements of 40 witnesses, Mashal’s father Iqbal Khan and the four accused including Asad Katlang, Sabir Mayar, a tehsil council member Arif and Izharullah.

On Saturday, when the police produced the four accused before the judge, he fixed March 21 for announcement of the decision.

Three of the accused, including tehsil councillor Arif Khan, Izharullah alias Johny and Sabir Mayar were later arrested, whereas another accused, Asad Katlang, was given an interim pre-arrest bail by the ATC, Abbottabad, and was later arrested after cancellation of his pre-arrest bail.

All the four accused were absconders and arrested after the ATC verdict issued on February 7, in which the Anti-Terrorism Court had convicted 31 of the 57 accused persons in the lynching case, awarding death sentence to the prime accused Imran Khan, life imprisonment to five of them, and three-year imprisonment to 25 others. However, the court had acquitted the rest of 26 persons, observing that the prosecution failed to prove charges against them. The state and Mashal’s father had then challenged the Anti-Terrorism Court’s verdict and appeals are still pending in the high court.