HYDERABAD: An additional district judge on Tuesday sentenced an accused in a blasphemy case to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment after a trial conducted inside Hyderabad central jail.

The judge stated in the judgment that accused was convicted under Section 265-H (2) of Cr.PC. Besides the jail term the convict would also have to pay a fine of Rs500,000.

In case of default on the payment of the penalty, the convict would undergo another three months in prison, said the judgement.

The judge said the sentence was awarded on the basis of mitigating circumstances and the accused “shall be entitled to benefit under Section 382-B of CrPC” as no concrete proof was found for awarding him death sentence.

According to state counsel, Mujeeb Qadir Memon, the case against the accused was lodged by a complainant Mehboob Ali at Mirpur Sakro police station, Thatta, vide crime (No. 53/2018) under Section 295-C PPC.

The complainant said that on April 1, 2018, the accused claimed himself to be a prophet in his presence at main bus stop in Buhara town. Ali Khan, Mohammad Anwar, Shahzad and Aslam Arain were witnesses in the case. The accused asked the complainant and the witnesses to recognise him as a prophet, he claimed in the FIR.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2024