The three women — Razia Hanfi, Ayesha Naumani, and Umra Aman — from Jamia Islamia Falahul Binaat seminary in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were arrested two years ago for murdering their teacher, Safoora Bibi, alleging she had committed blasphemy.
The assault took place at the seminary’s gate where the convicted students beat their teacher with sticks before slitting her throat.
After learning of the incident, the teacher’s uncle had informed police that his niece had been tortured and killed in the street. Knives and sticks were recovered from the accused following their arrest.
Subsequently, police said, the accused had confessed to the crime, claiming that a teenage relative had dreamt of the victim committing blasphemy.
The pair sentenced to death are aged 23 and 24 while the one sentenced to life in jail is 16 years old, public prosecutor Tanseer Ali said. “The court sentenced Hanfi and Aman to death. The third accused was sentenced to life imprisonment since she was under 18 when the crime took place,” Ali added.
In Muslim-majority Pakistan, even unsubstantiated claims of blasphemy have sparked violent acts of vigilantism. Last month, police were forced to intervene in Lahore when a woman wearing a shirt adorned with Arabic calligraphy was surrounded by a mob accusing her of blasphemy.