Pakistani child dies of injuries after violence over blasphemy

A Pakistani boy has been killed following violence that erupted when a group of angry people attacked a police station to demand that a man charged with blasphemy be handed over to them.

The ten-year old boy succumbed to the gunshot wounds that he received during the violence in the restive province of Balochistan, in southwest Pakistan, on Thursday.

The incident occurred when police refused to meet the locals’ demand to hand over Prakash Kumar, a 34-year-old member of the country’s Hindu religious minority, who had been arrested on Tuesday for allegedly posting a blasphemous image on social media.

After an hour of protests, the group of at least 500 angry people started attacking the police station, beating up officers and local government officials. Police used tear gas and fired shots into the air to disperse the people, who had effectively besieged the police station.

“The siege went on for about three hours and the mob went on a rampage demanding that Kumar be handed over,” said Jam Mohammad, a police officer.

The exact circumstances under which the boy received the bullet wounds were not clear.

Five other people were wounded and at least 20 others arrested.

This was not a first case of death related to alleged blasphemy in Pakistan. Last month, hundreds of people attacked and killed a 23-year-old university student in the northern Pakistani city of Mardan over allegations of blasphemy.

According to figures provided by the Center for Research and Security Studies, vigilantes have killed at least 65 people over blasphemy allegations in Pakistan since 1990.

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