SIALKOT: A new footage on Saturday emerged on social media showing that a daring man attempted to protect the Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Diyawadanage, who was brutally lynched and his body was set on fire by a mob in Sialkot over blasphemy allegations.
In the latest video, the man who tried to protect Priyantha Diyawadanage from the violent mob of hundreds is said to be his colleague. According to a local daily, which obtained the footage, the victim was being shielded by his colleague while the angry crowd was chanting blasphemy slogans.
In the video, some among the mob can be heard chanting slogans and saying “the manager will not escape today,” while the colleague tried to shield Diyawadanage with his body, who clung to the man’s legs.
The saviour also begged the enraged crowd to spare the life of his colleague before being overpowered by the self-proclaimed vigilantes. The mob later dragged Priyantha out on the road and tortured him with kicks, stones and iron rods, killing him on the spot.
Malik Naseem Awan, a resident and lawyer in Sialkot, told AFP he was worried about the impact this incident would have on the country’s image. “It would have been different if someone had done this individually but the crowd present there was watching it silently,” he said.
Almost all the political and religious parties condemned the incident including the army chief. A senior Pakistan official told AFP that Islamabad had been in touch with Sri Lankan diplomats over the incident “and have assured them that all those involved in the heinous crime will be brought to justice”.
The incident took place on Friday when hundreds of people armed with sticks and batons tortured the foreign national to death and later set his body on fire on Wazirabad Road in Punjab’s Sialkot district.
