In Pakistan's Punjab Province, a 22-year-old student has been handed down a death sentence by a court, while a 17-year-old has been sentenced to life imprisonment, both on charges of blasphemy stemming from WhatsApp messages, according to a report by BBC.
The judges of the provincial court stated that the 22-year-old received the death penalty for creating images and videos allegedly containing disparaging remarks about Prophet Muhammad and his spouses. The court asserted that the student shared the contentious content "with the deliberate intention of provoking the religious sentiments of Muslims."
Meanwhile, the teenager received a life sentence for disseminating the material. Both individuals refuted the allegations, with their legal representatives contending that they were ensnared in a fabricated case, as reported by BBC.
The complaint against the duo was lodged in 2022 by the cybercrime unit of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) based in Lahore.
The complainant alleged that he had received objectionable content, including videos and images with blasphemous content, from three distinct mobile phone numbers. Upon scrutinizing the complainant's phone, the investigative agency verified that the "indecent material" was indeed forwarded to him.
The father of the 22-year-old student informed BBC that he intends to lodge an appeal in the Lahore High Court challenging the verdict against his son.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan. These laws were initially formulated during India's colonial rule and were subsequently expanded in the 1980s during Pakistan's military regime.
