PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday commuted the death penalty of a convict based on appeals challenging the verdict of an anti-terrorism court in lynching case of Mashal Khan, a university student in Mardan.
A bench of the high court maintained life sentence to seven convicts and three years jail term to 25 others.
The appeals were filed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government, Mashal’s father and the convicts who were awarded jail terms by the trial court.
Mashal, 23, a student at Abdul Wali Khan University (AWKU) in Mardan, was beaten and shot to death on April 13, 2017, by an unruly mob instigated by rumours that he had committed blasphemy by posting sacrilegious content online.
The court cancelled bails of 25 convicts and ordered their arrest from the courtroom.
On February 7, 2018, the ATC sentenced the prime suspect to death while five others to 25 years’ imprisonment in the case.
The ATC had acquitted 26 suspects and awarded three years of jail term to 25 other accused in the case.
Convict Imran, who was awarded capital punishment, was found guilty of firing shots at the victim student from his pistol, which led to his death.
He had also confessed to the crime before the court.
