Staff Reporter
Lahore
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Wednesday acquitted and ordered the release of 42 people who were accused in cases pertaining to the lynching of two men in Lahore’s Youhanabad colony.
The incident occurred in 2015 when twin suicide bombings outside two churches in Lahore sparked protests in Youhanabad colony. The protests turned violent and two Muslim men identified as Babar Noman, a tailor, and Hafiz Naeem, a glass cutter, were burned to death by an angry mob.In 2016, the ATC had indicted 42 people — who were all in jail — in different cases pertaining to the incident. Two of the accused died in prison allegedly due to a lack of access to medical treatment.The suspects had filed an application under Section 345 (compounding offences) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in which they had contended that they should be released because they had reached an agreement with the victims’ families.
