Blasphemy mobs, mad behaviour

Over the last month there has been a number of cases illustrating the double or triple jeopardy faced by those accused of blasphemy.  None of them are Christians as far as we know, but their cases show the ease in which inappropriate charges are made, and the dangers of mob rule, vigilantism and of innocents being killed.
These incidents are getting so common, with so many common features, it is sometimes hard to tell whether we are dealing with an incident we've already reported on, perhaps with corrected details, or an entirely new incident.

Pakistani mob (photo AP)

DRUG ADDLED MAN LIVES IN FEAR IN PRISON AFTER QURAN DESECRATION
A Muslim man who had indulged in drugs in the past in the face of difficult circumstances now lives in fear in prison.  Every time someone comes in to his cell, he cries out 'Don't kill me', fearing it is one of the Muslim extremists who are his fellow prisoners in Karachi central jail has come to kill him, after he obeyed voices in his head telling him to 'do things'.   He was brought to the police station by concerned neighbours, and the police were dubious about his mental state.  However, mobs, stirred up by hate-spewing mullah's and religious extremists, advanced on the police station one night to try and lynch him.   They demanded the police hand him over so he could be killed.  The police have put him in a separate cell with officers standing guard to protect him from fellow inmates.  Psychiatrists say he should be examined for psychotic illness before any possible trial, with human rights activists saying the blasphemy laws don't apply to those who are mentally ill.


Source

MOB BEATS UP BLASPHEMY ACCUSED, EXTREMISTS REGISTER ACCUSATION
In another case, this time in Faisalabad, the police had to rescue a man accused of blasphemy who was being beaten and tortured by a mob.  The mob then staged a demonstration and blocked roads, demanding the man be handed over to them.  An FIR was registered by a member of Tehreek Dawat-e-Islami, an extremist organisation whose workers have been involved in several acts of terrorism over the years.  Police say the man later confessed to blasphemy.

Source

2 CHILDREN KILLED AS MOB ATTACKS POLICE STATION TO GET BLASPHEMY ACCUSED
Finally, there was a case last month in Quetta, when a mob stormed a police station to try and lynch a man - whom the police said appeared mentally retarded -  accused of blasphemy.  The man was mentally retarded, and is supposed to have burnt pages of the Koran.  The protesters were mostly Afghan refugees, who threw stones, torched vehicles and blocked the highway with burning tyres.  They chanted that the man should be stoned for blasphemy, stormed the police station and started firing.  19 were wounded by gunshots, 8 of them police officers, including the bodyguard of a senior police officer as he was hustled to safety.  The police had to resort to volleys of tear gas and gunfire to restore order, and in the melee 2 children were killed.

Source

The BPCA notes these cases and deplores them, in particular the fact that the hate-filled Mullah's and the extremist allies deem it fit to send lynch mobs after mentally ill people.  Better on judgement day to be mentally ill than morally wicked and sick.....