Blasphemy: Policeman kills man in custody with an axe

Two days after a Christian couple was killed in a mob action in Pakistan over an alleged blasphemy, a Pakistani policeman has killed a man in custody, whom he accused of the same offence.

Officials said on Thursday that the detained man, Tufail Haidar was arrested in Gujrat, a city in Punjab, for making derogatory remarks about the companions of Prophet Mohammed.

Rana Shahid of the Civil Lines Police Station where the incident took place, said Haidar persisted with the remarks and as a result, enraged the police officer, assistant sub-inspector Faraz Naveed, who struck Haidar on the neck with an axe, killing him.

Naveed has however been arrested

According to Shadid, the incident occured two days after a Christian couple was first beaten and then burned to death near Lahore for alleged blasphemy.

Another report has it that an elderly British man with mental illness, sentenced to death for blasphemy, was shot by a prison guard in September and wounded.

Punjab Governor, Salman Taseer, was also killed by his police guard in 2011 for allegedly criticizing the blasphemy laws which were introduced in the 1980s by military ruler, Ziaul Haq.