RAWALPINDI: An anti-cybercrime court in Rawalpindi has sentenced a woman to death on charges of sending blasphemous content via WhatsApp.
A local court in Rawalpindi also sentenced her to three years for posing as Muslim and to 10 years for insulting religious belief, besides awarding seven years imprisonment for online hate speech.
The 26-year-old woman was arrested in May 2020 and charged with posting “blasphemous material” as her WhatsApp status, according to a summary issued by a sessions court. When a friend urged her to change it, she instead forwarded the material to him, it said.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Adnan Mushtaq convicted Aneeqa Ateeq, resident of Islamabad’s Sector G-10/4, under sections 295-A, 295-C and 298 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 11 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
The court awarded death sentence under Section 295-C [blasphemy] and imposed Rs50,000 fine on her. Under Section 295-A [insulting religious belief], she was sentenced to 10 years along with the fine of Rs50,000.
Up to 80 people are known to be jailed in Pakistan on blasphemy charges — half of whom face life in prison or the death penalty — according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
In December, a Sri Lankan factory manager working in Sialkot was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob after being accused of blasphemy.
