'Blasphemer' axe murder

A Pakistani policeman has been arrested after allegedly killing with an axe a man who had been arrested on blasphemy allegations. The attack came just a day after a Christian couple were murdered by a mob for allegedly desecrating a copy of the Koran in the same eastern province of Punjab.

Police said that officer Faraz Naveed struck the victim, Tufail Naqvi, on the neck and head after the 50-year-old Shiite was arrested for allegedly making derogatory remarks about the companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was later brought to the Civil Lines police station in the eastern city of Gujrat.

"Assistant Sub-Inspector Faraz Naveed, 36, became very angry on hearing the derogatory remarks against the companions of the prophet and he killed the detainee with an axe in the lock-up," duty officer Ali Raza told AFP news agency.

Death sentence

Sectarian violence has been on the rise in Pakistan recently with mainly Sunni extremists targeting the country's minority Shiite community. Around 1,000 Shiites have been killed in the past two years.

In Pakistan, blasphemy is a serious offense, punishable by death. The law, however, is difficult to fight as it does not clearly define what is blasphemous. Presenting evidence can sometimes be considered a violation in itself.

One of country's highest profile cases is that of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was found guilty of committing blasphemy while working in the fields in 2009 and was sentenced to death. On October 16 this year, her death sentence was upheld by the Lahore High Court. Amnesty International called the verdict a "grave injustice."

ksb/glb (dpa, AFP)