Pakistan: Police shoot dead a doctor accused of blasphemy, set his body on fire

Dr Shahnawaz Kumbhar

By Nasir Aijaz
The AsiaN Representative

KARACHI, SINDH, PAKISTAN: The police on Thursday September 19, 2024, reportedly shot dead a doctor, identified as Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbar, accused of blasphemy, in Mirpurkhas city of Southern Sindh province of Pakistan, declaring that he was killed during an ‘encounter with the police’.

The police, after killing the doctor, did not bury his body, and instead set it on fire, being the blasphemer, as was shown in videos that went viral on social media.

The human rights activists have condemned the killing and setting the body of a doctor on fire, describing it the ‘Custodial and extra-judicial Killing’.

“The police have no authority at all to shoot dead any person with allegations of blasphemy. If a person is arrested under such allegations, the police have to produce the accused in the court, and only the court is empowered to decide punishment through trial,” they said in social media messages.

A video of the deceased doctor (Released before his killing) also became viral, wherein he is denying the allegations saying that a fake Facebook account in his name was used against him.

He insisted that he has not been active on Facebook for a long time.

The doctor also denied that he was in hiding, saying that he is staying in a hotel, moving the mobile phone camera in the hotel room, to prove his contention.

According to social media reports, Dr. Shahnawaz was in Sindh provincial government’s job, and was removed from the job by the provincial health department authorities soon after the violent protest demonstrations were reported by the media on Wednesday.

Dr. Shahnawaz, a resident of Umerkot town of Mirpurkhas Division, was earlier arrested by the police on the allegations of posting blasphemous content on social media, which had sparked violent protests by certain religious groups on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, a large number of enraged protesters gathered outside the local press club in Umerkot district headquarter town, demanding the immediate arrest of Dr. Shahnawaz.

During the protest, demonstrators set a police mobile van on fire. The situation calmed only after the Umerkot Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) assured the protesters that FIR (First Information Report) would be filed against the suspect.

Following this assurance, police registered a case against Dr. Shahnawaz at the police station under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, and then conducted raids to arrest him.

According to police, as reported by the local media, the accused was hiding with a friend who was armed, and opened fire to evade arrest. During the exchange of gunfire, Dr. Shahnawaz was killed, the local media said.

However, no official version of the police or Sindh government about the gory incident has yet come.

Meanwhile, social media users have condemned the custodial killing of a doctor and setting his body ablaze on the fake charges of blasphemy.

The human rights activists in their statements on social media have appealed to the higher authorities as well as human rights organizations to investigate the custodial killing of a doctor.