October 28, 2025
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday finally acquitted a 29-year-old woman who had been sentenced to death two years ago, for sending allegedly blasphemous messages via WhatsApp and Facebook, her lawyer Saiful Malook told Voicepk.
The Islamabad resident was sentenced to death and given an additional 20-year prison term by a Rawalpindi court in January 2022 following a complaint filed under cybercrime and blasphemy laws. She subsequently appealed the death sentence in the LHC.
A divisional bench in Rawalpindi, comprising Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan, accepted her appeal and acquitted her of all blasphemy charges, Malook confirmed.
Allegations of entrapment
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the woman met her accuser online in 2019 through a mobile gaming app, and the two began communicating over WhatsApp.
The complainant alleged that she sent blasphemous caricatures and made derogatory remarks about “holy personages” on WhatsApp, while also using her Facebook account to transmit blasphemous material to other users. The FIR stated that she “deliberately and intentionally defiled sacred righteous personalities and insulted the religious beliefs of Muslims.”
However the woman maintained before the trial court that the complainant deliberately engaged her in religious discussions to collect evidence and exact “revenge” after she refused his advances.
Lack of forensic evidence and questionable investigation
Malook presented several critical arguments in the appeal that led to the acquittal. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) failed to conduct a forensic audit of the complainant’s mobile phone. While the FIA investigation officer claimed the phone was taken into custody and returned after forensic examination, no records substantiated this claim.
The FIA did conduct a forensic audit of the woman’s phone and discovered the SIM card was registered in another woman’s name. The high court questioned why the FIA did not nominate the SIM owner as a co-accomplice or interrogate her.
Malook challenged the complainant’s credibility, questioning why someone claiming to be a pious Muslim maintained constant contact with the woman for one and a half years.
Links to blasphemy extortion gang
Malook stated that his client was among the first victims of a blasphemy business gang accused of honey-trapping hundreds of young people through social media platforms.
These allegations gained credibility following a January 2024 report by the Punjab Police’s Special Branch, which revealed that a suspicious gang was entrapping young people in blasphemy cases and extorting money with the collusion of some FIA officials. The report recommended launching a probe to “dig out discreet activities of the gang.”
The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) corroborated these tactics in its report, stating: “Young men were targeted using female operatives under pseudonyms, entrapping them in blasphemous activities online, which led to their arrests.”
The NCHR report also highlighted serious procedural violations, noting that “arrests were often carried out by private individuals rather than law enforcement, and there were disturbing reports of torture during and after apprehension. Detainees’ written statements were frequently obtained under duress, compromising their legitimacy.”
In September 2024, families of over 100 individuals jailed in blasphemy cases approached the Islamabad High Court seeking the formation of a commission to investigate allegations of fabricated evidence.
In July 2025, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the federal government to establish a commission within one month to investigate allegations that an organized group had been entrapping youth in false blasphemy cases. The commission was tasked with completing its investigation within four months. However, a division bench later suspended the order to constitute the investigative commission.