A TEACHER at an all-girls’ religious school was killed by a colleague and two students who accused her of blasphemy, said Pakistan police today, the latest murder related to the hugely sensitive issue in the country.

Few problems in Pakistan are as galvanising as blasphemy, and even the slightest suggestion of an insult to Islam can supercharge protests and incite lynchings.

The incident occurred in Dera Ismail Khan yesterday, in the ultra-conservative northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.

Police said two students and a teacher ambushed Safoora Bibi at the main gate of the school and attacked her with a knife and stick.

“She died after her throat was slit,” said police official Saghir Ahmed.

The main suspect is a colleague who planned the crime with two nieces studying at the Jamia Islamia Falahul Binaat school, he added.

The girls told police a relative dreamt that the dead woman “committed blasphemy” against Prophet Muhammad, said officers, adding that they are also investigating if the main suspect, Umra Aman, had a personal grudge.

Azeem Khan, another police official, confirmed the details.

Religious schools have long served as vital lifelines for millions of impoverished children in Pakistan, where social services are chronically underfunded.

But critics said students can be brainwashed by hardline clerics who prize rote learning of the Quran over core subjects such as maths and science.

Rights groups said blasphemy laws are often wielded to settle personal vendettas.

Last year, a Sri Lankan factory manager working in Pakistan was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob after being accused of blasphemy.

The Centre for Social Justice – an independent group advocating for the rights of minorities – said at least 84 people were accused of committing blasphemy last year, and three killed by lynch mobs over similar allegations. – AFP, March 30, 2022.