 KARACHI - A Pakistani man whose family says he is mentally unstable has been arrested for blasphemy, accused of desecrating the Muslim holy book, police said on Wednesday. The suspect, Shahzad Samiullah, 36, was arrested on Tuesday after a mob turned violent and tried to attack him in a poor part of Karachi city, police said.
| Cause that's what you do when some sad-sack tries to burn a book ... |
A neighbour said Samiullah had put a copy of the Koran on the ground, stepped on it and tried to set it alight, police said. “His parents came to see him in jail and they say he is abnormal,” investigating police officer Mohammad Amin told Reuters. “But they have to produce medical evidence to prove this.”
| And it'd better be suitable for ol' Mo' hisself. |
Before a Karachi court ordered him detained on Wednesday, Samiullah said he came from a religious family. “I don’t know what happened to me. I don’t know why I did this. I felt like I was instigated by the Devil,” a sobbing Samiullah told Reuters outside the court.
| "Please don't let them kill me!" |
Cases of blasphemy are relatively common in Pakistan, although no one has ever been executed for it. |