Pakistani Hero Cop Defends Woman From Blasphemy Mob

Authorities said that after the woman’s clothing’s Arabic calligraphy was misinterpreted for passages from the Quran, Sheher Bano, an assistant superintendent of police in Lahore, risked her life to save her.

TFD – Discover the courageous act of a Pakistani police officer who defended a woman accused of blasphemy from a violent mob in Lahore. Read the inspiring story of heroism on CNN.

Pakistan’s Peshawar — After defending a woman from an enraged mob that accused her of blasphemy because of what she was wearing, a Pakistani police officer is being heralded as a hero.

Usman Anwar, the police inspector general of Punjab province, stated that Sheher Bano, an assistant superintendent of police in the city of Lahore, “put her life in danger” to save the woman after her outfit’s vibrant Arabic calligraphy was misinterpreted for passages from the Muslim holy book, the Quran.

In Pakistan, which has a majority of Muslims, blasphemy is a very delicate matter because it carries a death sentence. Mob lynchings, arrests, and violent assaults have all resulted from accusations.

In a ceremony in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, Bano received Pakistan’s highest honor in law enforcement from the country’s military, which called her “fearless.”

Last Sunday afternoon, police got their first complaint about a group of about twenty people congregating outside a restaurant in a popular Lahore retail district. The gathering requested that the unidentified woman take off her kurta, a long, flowing garment that resembles a collarless shirt, accusing her of blasphemy.

Bano told NBC News over the phone on Friday, “My first and immediate responsibility was to instantly shift the woman from there.” She claimed to have attempted to protect the woman as the enraged crowd grew outside as she sat terrified in a corner.

In a widely shared social media video, a guy can be heard addressing a police officer, “This woman has disrespected the Quran.”

Bano is seen begging with the mob in a Punjab Police video that was uploaded to Facebook on Monday.

Her title as assistant superintendent of police was mentioned as she stated, “I’ve been serving this area as the ASP since a year.” “You ought to have faith in us.”

Bano then returned to the restaurant and, after draping the woman in a golden headscarf and a black robe, took her out. In an attempt to get the woman to safety, she pushed past the throng of people encircled by police officers.

As crowds started to gather outside the local police stations, Bano stated the woman was taken to one of the stations. Subsequently, representatives brought in professors and clergy from the area, some of whom had been present in the irate mob.

They apologized for their misinterpretation after determining from the calligraphy on the clothing that it did not contain any verses from the Quran.

Bano said that the Arabic word “helwa,” which meaning beautiful, was printed on the outfit instead.

In a video that Lahore Police later shared on Facebook, the woman in the kurta apologized.

“It happened by mistake and was not intentional,” she stated. “I thought this kurta was a design when I bought it.”

She continued, saying, “I still apologize,” and that she is a devoted Muslim who would never blaspheme.

During British colonial authority, blasphemy was made legal and later broadened by the Pakistani government. The restrictions, according to rights groups, are frequently used to frighten the nation’s religious minority, therefore officials are under pressure to reform them.

An enraged crowd killed a guy suspected of blasphemy outside of his Punjab province police station cell after he was taken from his cell last year.

According to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as of December 2023, at least 56 persons were still being held by the police on charges of blasphemy.

Mithil Aggarwal reported from Hong Kong, and Mushtaq Yusufzai from Peshawar, Pakistan.