Man accused of blasphemy shot dead in Pakistan courtroom

A man who reportedly claimed to be a prophet and was subsequently accused in a blasphemy case has been shot dead in a courtroom in Peshawar of Pakistan on Wednesday. 

The victim - Tahir Shamim Ahmad - had been in police custody since he was arrested two years back.  

A youth walked into the courtroom of the northwestern city and shot him repeatedly.

Tahir succumbed to his injuries before reaching hospital, AP reports quoting a local police officer.

Law enforcers arrested the assailant - Khalid Hasan - from the scene.  It is yet to be clear how he paved his way into the court amid high security. 

Azmat Khan, a Pakistani police officer, said Tahir had claimed himself to be a prophet two years back. 

Later, he was sued in a blasphemy case and arrested subsequently, he added. 

The blasphemy act of Pakistan is an extremely strict law which empowered the court in handing down death-sentence to the convicts.

Although Pakistan is yet to execute anyone under the act, the issue has long been an excessively sensitive issue in the country. 

In 2011, A Punjab governor was murdered by his bodyguard as he took the side of a Christian woman who was acquitted from blasphemy charges by a court.

(Source: UNB)