Pakistan Woman in Arabic Script Dress Attacked by Mob, Accused of Blasphemy

Rabat – On Sunday, a woman in Pakistan wearing a dress decorated with Arabic script, was met by a mob of hundreds of people, where she was accused of blasphemy, according to BBC.

Videos circulated on several social media platforms show a huge crowd gathered around the woman at a restaurant in the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Lahore.

In the videos a man can be heard demanding her to remove the garment or else it would be forcefully removed.

The dress was adorned in Arabic calligraphy with the word “Halwa,” Arabic for “beautiful”), which was mistaken for Quranic verses.

The woman was saved by police officers who escorted her to safety and took her into a police station for questioning. Religious scholars later concluded that the text on her dress was not verses from the Quran, but rather Arabic calligraphy.

Following this, the scholars recorded a video presenting their findings and stating that the woman was innocent.

The woman gave a public apology, stating, “I didn’t have any such intention, it happened by mistake. Still, I apologise for all that happened, and I’ll make sure it never happens again.” She added that she is a devout Muslim woman, and would never intentionally commit blasphemy.

In Pakistan, blasphemy is a serious crime that is punishable by death.

Such laws against blasphemy were first introduced by India’s British rulers and were later expanded throughout the region in the 1980s.