Family of Quetta blasphemy suspect forgives police officer accused of his killing

The family members of a blasphemy suspect have forgiven the Quetta police official who allegedly killed him last week while he was in police custody, it emerged on Wednesday.

On September 12, the police officer allegedly killed a man being held in custody on suspicion of blasphemy charges. Quetta Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muhammad Baloch said that the police officer accused of the killing had been arrested.

The officer had accessed a police station where the man suspected of committing blasphemy was being held, by pretending he was his relative before opening fire on him.

The blasphemy suspect had been taken into custody earlier in the week and moved to a more heavily fortified station due to an enraged mob demanding that he be handed over to them.

At the time, protesters belonging to the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and other religious parties had blocked traffic on the western bypass by placing burning tyres on the road and staging rallies in several parts of the provincial capital. They later hurled a hand grenade at the Kharotabad police station, which exploded outside the police station.

Speaking at a press conference in Quetta on Wednesday, the suspect’s family members, along with the chief of the Noorzai tribe Haji Faizullah Nourzai said, “The family and tribe have nothing to do with the dirty act of blasphemy committed by the suspect.”

The family strongly condemned the slain suspect for the alleged blasphemy saying, “We never hesitate to render our lives in the honour of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him).”

“We have pardoned the police official Saad Muhammad Sarhadi in the name of Allah and unconditionally,” the family members said, adding that they would not fight the case against the police official in a court of law.

JUI-P senator expresses solidarity with police official

JUI-P Senator Abdul Shakoor Khan, in a Senate meeting last week, had expressed solidarity with the police official, saying that he would bear all his legal expenses.

“The police officer shot him because he expressed distrust in the legal system,” the senator had said. “It is wrong in terms of Shariat and the law.”

“I don’t blame the police official, I blame the legal system,” he went on to say, adding that “we will not tolerate anyone issuing blasphemous remarks against the Holy Prophet”.

Those accused, who should be hanged within 10 hours, undergo trials for months, Senator Khan had said.

Blasphemy cases

In May, police rescued a Christian man from enraged mobsters who wanted to lynch him, and attacked the homes of some other members of the minority community in Sargodha on allegations of desecration of the Holy Quran.

Following the incident, 26 people were arrested, and over 400 were booked for mob violence. The case was registered on behalf of the state under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 and sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

However, the police also registered a blasphemy case against the Christian man, a resident of Mujahid Colony. He succumbed to his injuries after fighting for his life at a hospital for eight days.

In June, a mob brutally lynched a man — who had been detained for the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran — inside the Madyan police station in Swat.

The mob then set fire to the suspect’s body, the police station, and a police vehicle.

Swat District Police Officer Dr Zahidullah had said that eight people were also injured in the incident.