The criminal group that allegedly kidnapped, tortured and extorted people accused of blasphemy in Pakistan A Pakistani Muslim cleric who was honored by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, has been accused of protecting an alleged extortion gang linked to kidnappings and torture, The Telegraph reported on Thursday. interfaith harmony, last week, just six days after it was brought against him. According to The Telegraph, Ashrafi’s brother allegedly leads a so-called “blasphemy gang” in Pakistan that releases young men online and blackmails them with threats of prosecution under the country’s blasphemy laws. The newspaper said the group is behind a “significant surge” in the number of people jailed for blasphemy in recent years.
Blasphemy can carry the death penalty in Pakistan. Ashrafi publicly defended his brother and called a judge investigating the alleged gang a “dog,” according to the British newspaper. Pakistan’s National Human Rights Commission said the group used women operating under pseudonyms to lure men into making blasphemous statements online.
Those targeted were often detained by “private individuals rather than law enforcement,” subjected to torture and denied access to legal aid, according to the state’s human rights watchdog. Relatives of alleged victims told The Telegraph they were “shocked” to see Ashrafi receive the British award. They claimed the cleric played the “good cop” while his brother acted as the “bad cop,” hunting down and abducting victims.
The newspaper said the relatives were granted anonymity for fear of reprisals. Ashrafi has denied any wrongdoing. The controversy comes amid a heightened investigation in Britain into gang-related crimes involving men of Pakistani heritage, following years of revelations about organised sexual exploitation of children in towns and cities across the country. An inquiry funded by Restore Britain MP Rupert Lowe reported in June that 14 local UK gangs had identified evidence of 7 local gangs operating grooming gangs in the UK.
authority districts. The report concluded that a “bare minimum” of 250,000 women and girls have been raped by grooming gangs since 2000, and that senior politicians helped the gangs escape prosecution. You can share this story on social media: Follow RT on