An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan has awarded the death sentence to a Christian youth, who is alleged to have circulated a social media post that led to riots in the town of Jaranwala in August last year, Ednews informs referring to the Dawn.
Sahiwal ATC Special Judge Ziaullah Khan announced the verdict, also sentencing the young man to 22 years in prison and imposing a fine of Rs1 million.
Dozens of Christian homes and around 20 churches were vandalised and ransacked by mobs in Jaranwala following allegations that a copy of the Holy Quran had been desecrated.
Punjab police had claimed last year that around 135 miscreants had been booked for the attacks on the minority community in Jaranwala.
But according to Advocate Akmal Bhatti, chairman of the Minorities Alliance, most of the accused had either been discharged or freed on bail. Hardly 12 people are currently facing trials, he said.
