ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday acquitted three men who had been sentenced to death in the 2014 Kot Radha Kishan brick kiln lynching case involving the killing of a Christian couple.
A SC three-member bench headed by Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmad Khan allowed the appeals of Irfan, Mehdi and Riaz, overturning their death sentences and ordering their acquittal.
The apex court also dismissed the Punjab government’s appeal against the acquittal of 102 other accused in the same case, effectively upholding the earlier decision.
The case relates to the killing of Shahzad Masih and his pregnant wife Shama Bibi, who were attacked by a mob on November 4, 2014, after being accused of committing blasphemy.
According to the prosecution, the couple was assaulted by a large crowd before being thrown into a brick kiln and burned alive in Kot Radha Kishan, Kasur district.
Following the incident, police registered a case against hundreds of suspects. An Anti-Terrorism Court later convicted several accused, sentencing five men to death while awarding varying prison terms to others.
The Lahore High Court subsequently acquitted two of the five death-row convicts but upheld the death sentences of the remaining three.
After hearing the appeals, the Supreme Court acquitted three remaining convicts and ordered their release from jail.
The detailed judgment explaining the reasons for the decision has yet to be issued.
The Kot Radha Kishan lynching remains one of Pakistan’s most widely reported mob violence cases and drew national and international attention following the killing of the Christian couple.
