First, the Sindh Police killed him. Then, a zealot mob burned his body in yet another brutal case of mob justice in Pakistan.
In Umerkot, Sindh, a mob took hold of the body of Dr. Shah Nawaz Kumbhar, who had been accused of blasphemy and allegedly killed in a staged police encounter. On Friday, they set his body on fire.
The Sindh government has since suspended DIG Javed Soonharo Jiskani, SSP Chaudhry Arshad, and other officials over their mishandling of the blasphemy case and the alleged fake encounter.
Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lamjar acknowledged the gravity of the case on X, saying that while Dr. Kumbhar had hurt the sentiments of many Muslims by sharing inflammatory posts about the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the police’s role in the incident raised serious concerns.
Civil society groups have rejected the police inquiry, calling for a judicial investigation and demanding that cases be registered against the Mirpurkhas DIG, SSP, and other implicated officers.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has also urged for a “thorough, impartial, and independent” investigation into the recent killings of two blasphemy suspects in Sindh and Balochistan by law enforcement.
Earlier in September, police constable Saad Khan Sarhadi shot dead a blasphemy suspect, Abdul Ali, inside the lockup of Cantt Police Station in Quetta.
Who was Dr. Shah Nawaz Kumbhar and what happened to him?
Dr. Shah Nawaz Kumbhar, a doctor at Civil Hospital Umerkot, was accused of blasphemy over a social media post, a charge increasingly weaponized in Pakistan to incite violence and justify extrajudicial killings.
Despite Dr. Kumbhar posting a video clarifying that his old social media account had been hacked, he was tracked down. His family members were reportedly detained in an effort to force his surrender. The tragic outcome reflects the alarming escalation of mob justice in Pakistan.
According to his relatives, when Dr. Kumbhar’s father arrived with his body at their hometown in an ambulance at 4 a.m., a furious crowd blocked their entry into the village. The family tried to transport the body 40 kilometers away to a smaller town for burial, but they encountered opposition from another mob. Ultimately, they brought the body to a remote desert area on their land for burial.
During the burial process, the mob overpowered them, took the body, and set it on fire, severely damaging the remains. The police reportedly only arrived after the body had been burned, and the family proceeded with the burial only once law enforcement was present.
Family blames the police for the brutal killing
Dr. Kumbhar’s mother has called for justice, demanding that the police officers responsible for the “extrajudicial” killing of her son be held accountable. She has accused the police of killing her son, burning his body, and inciting the mob to commit the heinous act. Rejecting the Sindh Home Department’s investigation, she has appealed for a judicial inquiry into the tragedy.
