UPDATE: Since the publication of this fact check, it emerged on June 3 that the victim, Nazeer Maseeh, passed away in a Rawalpindi hospital.
Multiple posts and an image circulating on social media since Sunday claimed that the Christian man subjected to mob violence in Sargodha over the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran was killed along with his son. However, a close relative has confirmed the claims to be false.
The police on Saturday rescued the man as well as two Christian families from the enraged mob that wanted to lynch him and barge into the homes of some other members of the minority community.
The incident had taken place after some residents of the colony found burned pages near an electric pole and the houses of the Christian family.
On Sunday, an X user shared an image of a woman cradling a man with his eyes closed.
The caption said: “Protesting and crying for Palestine, while killing this innocent Christian brother and his father, over false blasphemy allegations, explains our hypocrisy. Each and every Pakistani, who was involved, must be arrested and an example should be made!”
The post gained over 16,000 views.
In a similar X post today, LUMS professor Dr Taimur Rahman said: “N* and his father were murdered over false blasphemy allegations. This is what mullahs can achieve even without state power. If they had state power, they will ensure that there would be no non-Muslims left in Pakistan.”
The post gained over 44,000 views and was also reshared by The News journalist Arshad Yousafzai.
However, a nephew of the victim told Dawn.com that he (his uncle) was “fine and alive” and has since been moved to a different hospital for treatment.
Sargodha Regional Police Officer Shariq Kamal also said on Sunday that there was “no casualty and no seriously injured [person]” in the incident .
Additionally, there were no reports or mention of the father or son being killed by Dawn.com’s correspondent or other credible news outlets in their coverage of the incident.
Furthermore, the claims also misattributed the man’s name, which has been withheld for security purposes, as being that of his son.
Therefore, Dawn.com has determined that the claims of a Christian man and his son lynched in Saturday’s act of mob violence in Sargodha are inaccurate. Both the family and police confirmed that there were no deaths and the circulating posts also misattributed the identity of the man.
