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Sindhi artist Qutub Rind killed for alleged blasphemy, family claims

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LAHORE: Family of a Sindhi artist Qutub Rind has claimed that he was killed under “false charges of blasphemy” a few days back in Lahore.

Qutub Rind’s uncle, Gul Beg Rind, told Pakistan Today that Rind, a National College of Art (NCA) graduate, along with his two children came to Lahore on July 17 for an art show.

“Qutub had rented out an apartment and had an altercation with the landlord that day,” he said.

“Later at night, the landlord along with two accomplices came to the house and broke Rind’s arms, legs and then pushed him from the third floor of the building,” he added.

Rind later passed away in the hospital due to severe head injuries, according to a medical report.

A friend of Qutub, Hamid Ali, who had registered an FIR [First Information Report], claimed that the suspects confessed to killing Rind for committing ‘blasphemy’.

“As soon as the police caught the suspects, they confessed but later changed their statements,” he further claimed.

Family and friends have accused officials at the Sanda Police Station of not cooperating and covering up the incident.

“Police have been pressuring us to register a case against only one suspect—the one who had pushed Rind from the roof,” the family alleged.

“They haven’t even arrested the third suspect,” they added.

“Initially, we had registered an FIR against the landlord thinking that the motivation behind the murder might be a dispute over rent but later the suspects confessed and we got to know about the accounts of eye-witnesses,” Rind’s uncle claimed.

However, police have denied the accusations, emphasising that the blasphemy was not the motivation behind the murder.

Express Tribune quoting police officials reported that the claims that the victim was murdered due to allegations for committing blasphemy are not true, and rather it was a dispute on payment of rent.

Talking to Pakistan Today, another friend of Rind said that he was a socio-political thinker and a painter.

“His work was against caste system and tribal wars,” he said.

“He used to offer prayers five times a day,” he added, denying that Rind could’ve ever committed blasphemy.

On April 13, 2017, Mashal Khan, 23, a student at the Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan was lynched by a mob, allegedly comprising of his fellow students riled up by allegations of blasphemy against the young man. As details of the bone-chilling event, including a video recording of the event, were reported, a different picture started to emerge— one that had nothing to do with blasphemy.

It is pertinent to mention here that while the state has never executed anyone under blasphemy laws, mere allegations have prompted mob violence and lynchings.

Since 1990, vigilantes have been accused of murdering 65 people tied to blasphemy, according to research compiled by Pakistani thinktank, Centre for Research and Security Studies.

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/20...d-killed-for-alleged-blasphemy-family-claims/
 
Another innocent life lost. How many more before this barbaric law is revoked and perpetrators of such crime are severely punished?
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I just spoke to Qutub's uncle. He confirmed that Killers fabricated blasphemy allegations to justify murder whereas dispute started due to rent. He also stated that he filed application against 3 accused in his but Police only registered case against 2 and protecting 3rd person <a href="https://t.co/G3oEM5McSP">pic.twitter.com/G3oEM5McSP</a></p>— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) <a href="https://twitter.com/MJibranNasir/status/1026205232836042752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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They should execute the guys that killed him. They killed him in such a horrific way with no regard for him or his children.

I hope they die a painful death.
 
Two arrested for NCA student’s murder

LAHORE: The police claimed on Sunday to have arrested two suspects involved in torturing a National College of Arts (NCA) student to death over a minor dispute.

Qutub Rind, 32, of Jacobabad, Sindh, was studying at NCA and was living in a rented flat in Rajgarh.

On July 17, landlord of the flat, identified as Ahsan, approached Qutub and demanded next month’s rent of the quarters. Qutub told him that he had already paid the rent and would pay the next month’s rent on the date given in the agreement.

The landlord got angry. He called his brother, Waqas Ali, and another accomplice and started beating Qutub with a rod and later pushed him down from the third floor of the house.

The victim suffered critical injuries and was taken to the Services Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Sanda police, on the complaint of Qutub’s paternal uncle, Gul Beg Rind, registered a case against three suspects, Ahsan Ali, his brother Waqas Ali and an unidentified person. The family took the body to their native town of Jacobabad.

Now a social media campaign has been launched on Facebook and Twitter by the friends and relatives of Qutub, more than two weeks after the alleged crime.

According to them, the suspects had first leveled blasphemy allegation against the victim and later a mob gathered and killed him.

Victim’s uncle Gul Beg Rind told Dawn by phone that his nephew was killed by the owner of the flat, his brother and an unidentified accomplice. He said the police had arrested two of the suspects and one of them had started leveling allegations against Qutub, saying they had killed him for committing blasphemy. He said the suspects were leveling false allegations and his nephew was murdered over a dispute on rent payment.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Investigations Awais Malik also confirmed to Dawn that Qutub was killed over dispute on payment of rent.

He said the owner of the flat was a drug addict and he demanded rent of the flat second time in a month which had resulted in an exchange of harsh words between him and Qutub. He said the police had arrested the suspects.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1425144/two-arrested-for-nca-students-murder
 
Vigilantism is a scourge in Pakistan, and surely that's related to how little faith most people have in the Police. These people need to be made an example of.

If the Blasphemy laws are such a detterent and so effective, why do people feel the take the law into their own hands? And why do so many people think they're justified to do so?
 
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