Pakistan: Death Sentences Over Killing Of Sri Lankan Accused Of Blasphemy

Six men have been sentenced to death over the mob killing of a Sri Lankan man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan.

Priyantha Diyawadanage, 48, a factory manager in the city of Sialkot, was beaten to death and his body set alight last December.

Of 88 people convicted, nine were given life sentences and the others jail terms of two to five years.

The case shocked the country and was described as "a day of shame" by the then Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Videos of the lynching on social media showed scenes of the incensed crowd dragging Mr Diyawadanage from his workplace and beating him to death.

They then burnt his body, with several people seen in the crowd taking selfies with his corpse.

The victim's wife, Nilushi Dissanayaka, described how she had seen him "being attacked on the internet... it was so inhumane".

- bbc.com