The family of a doctor accused of blasphemy in Pakistan says police killed him in a fake encounter

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — The family of a doctor accused of blasphemy said Monday that he was killed in police custody in southern Pakistan. He turned himself in voluntarily after being assured he would be given a chance to prove his innocence. The family denied the police's version that he was killed accidentally in a shootout.

If that is true, then that would be second extrajudicial killing within a week and was condemned by human rights groups.

Shah Nawaz, a doctor in Umerkot district of Sindh province, went into hiding last week after being accused of insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad and sharing blasphemous content on Facebook. Nawaz said someone had hacked his account and he had not posted anything against Islam.

His family said he was arrested last Wednesday and killed hours later in a fake confrontation with police. A mob also burned down Nawaz's clinic on Wednesday, officials said.

According to police, Nawaz was accidentally killed when police officers in Mirpur Khas town signaled two men on a motorcycle to stop. Instead of stopping, the men opened fire and tried to flee, after which police shot at them, killing one of them, police said.

They said that it was only after the shooting that officers learned that the man killed was the doctor wanted for alleged blasphemy.

“I want justice for my son who was killed in police custody,” said Rehmat Kunbhar, Nawaz's mother.

“We asked him to face the investigation after the police assured us that he would be protected,” she said by phone. “I didn't know that the police would kill him,” she said, sobbing.

She said the Facebook posts continued even after his arrest, suggesting someone had hacked the site.

Nawaz's father, Mohammad Saleh, said a mob snatched his son's body after his death and burned it in front of him. “They sprinkled petrol on my son's body and burned it while I watched helplessly,” he said.

Police said they had arrested nine people accused of taking the body and burning it. Noor Mohammad, a police officer investigating the case, said officials were seeking to arrest more than 100 people involved in the violence before and after Nawaz's arrest.

On Friday, the authorities suspended the police officers who opened fire and killed Nawazwho were applauded by local residents after the murder and showered with rose petals.

Members of civil society visited Nawaz's village on Thursday, met with his family and laid flowers on his grave as a sign of their respect and support.

“We are terribly afraid and cannot send our children to school,” said Niamat Bibi, Nawaz’s widow.

Accusations of blasphemy – sometimes even just rumors – can trigger riots and mobs in Pakistan. Although mob killings of blasphemy suspects are common, extrajudicial killings by police are rare.

A week before Nawaz's assassination, an officer opened fire in a police station in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, killing Syed Khan, another Suspect arrested on blasphemy charges.

Khan was arrested after police officers rescued him from an angry mob who claimed he had insulted the Prophet of Islam. The police officer who killed him, Mohammad Khurram, was quickly arrested. However, the murdered man's family later said they had pardoned the officer.

Under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty can Insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be punished with death – however, the authorities have not yet carried out a death sentence for blasphemy.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad.