Kot Radha Kishan incident: LHC reserves verdict on suspects appeal against sentence

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday reserved a verdict on appeals filed by eight suspects against their sentence in the lynching and burning alive of a Christian couple who were accused of blasphemy in Kot Radha Kishan in 2014.

The verdict was reserved by a two-member LHC bench headed by Justice Muhammad Qasim.

Eight suspects who were sentenced to death by an anti terrorism court had filed review appeal against the punishment in the LHC.

According to the government counsel, strong evidence was at hand against the accused. He requested the court to dismiss their appeals against sentence in the case.

Read: Man kills three children, wife in Kot Radha Kishan

A mob had burnt a Christian couple identified as Shehzad Masih and Shama Bibi alive in a brick kiln in Kot Radha Kishan near Lahore. It was said that the owner of the brick kiln had accused the couple of committing blasphemy over a monetrary dispute.

The incident was widely condemned by human rights, minority and social groups across the country.

After the barbaric incident, the police had registered a case against 660 villagers, including 60 who were nominated in a First Information Report lodged on the complaint of a sub-inspector.

The mob had reportedly held hostage five policemen who tried to rescue the couple.