3 December 2021 08:22 pm
Sri Lanka today said it expects that the Pakistan authorities will take required action to investigate and ensure justice over an alleged incident of torture and burning of body of a Sri Lankan in Sialkot,Pakistan earlier today(3).
“The Foreign Ministry has received reports of an alleged incident of torture and burning of body of a Sri Lankan in Sialkot,Pakistan,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sugeeshwara Gunaratna said.
He also said that the the Sri Lanka High Commission in Islamabad is in the process of verifying the details of the incident from the Pakistan authorities.
According to Pakistan media a mob in Sialkot on Friday tortured the General Manager of Rajko Industries in Sialkot, to death over blasphemy allegations before burning his body.
Rajko Industries is the company that had made the cricket jersey and gear for the Pakistan T20 team for World Cup.
Sialkot District Police Officer Umar Saeed Malik identified the victim as Priyantha Kumara.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the "horrific, vigilante attack" on the factory and the burning alive of the Sri Lankan man "was a day of shame for Pakistan".
"I am overseeing the investigations and, let there be no mistake, all those responsible will be punished with the full severity of the law. Arrests are in progress," the PM said.
Tweet by one Baltistan Times says, “The GM of Rajko Industries in Sialkot, who was a Sri Lankan, was killed and set on fire by the people of the factory. The G.M allegedly tore the poster of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and threw it in the trash”.
A Sialkot resident took to Facebook to say that the victim had thrown a paper accidentally in the bin and that there was no deliberate blasphemy in the case.(Sunil Jayasiri)