My 13-year-old cousin had a dream that Safoora had committed blasphemy. So, I cut her throat,” said Razia, a murder suspect, in her statement to police. On March 29, three women had attacked a seminary teacher, claiming that she victim had committed blasphemy. The victim had been killed in the attack.

According to Dera Ismail Khan police and eyewitnesses, the murder took place in broad daylight in front a seminary. “A rickshaw stopped outside Madrassa Islamia Falah ul-Banat at Anjumabad at 7am. Safoora Mehsud, a burqa-clad teacher, got off. However, before she could enter the seminary, three women assaulted her. Two of them pinned her to the ground, while the third cut her throat. They then fled,” police said.

Passers-by identified the three women as Ayesha, Umrah and Razia. All of them belonged to the Mehsud tribe. They were later taken into custody by the police.

Razia told police that she and Safoora had been classmates at the Khadijat ul-Kubra madrassa. After completing their education, Razia had started teaching girls at her home while Safoora had got a job as a teacher at a madrassa.

Razia said that recently, her 13-year old cousin had been told in a dream that Safoora had committed blasphemy for which her throat must be slit. Razia said when she learnt about the dream, she swore to kill Safoora herself. She then asked her cousin, Ayesha, and aunt, Umrah Aman, for help in her undertaking.

The suspects have provided no details about how or when Safoora committed blasphemy. The investigating officer said he had learnt that that Razia and Safoora had a history of arguments over religious issues when they were students.

Razia told police that her 13-year old cousin had been told in a dream that Safoora had committed blasphemy. When Razia found out about the dream, she swore to kill Safoora. She then asked her cousin Ayesha and aunt Umrah Aman for help in killing Safoora. The accused provided no details about how or when Safoora had committed blasphemy. The investigating officer said that Razia and Safoora had had a history of arguments over religious issues when they were students.

This is not the first time of the kind at an educational institute in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In April 2017, a student named Mashal Khan was lynched by a mob at Abdul Wali Khan University after he was accused of blasphemy. The episode had made headlines around the world. In that case, one of the assailants was sentenced to death. Several others received life terms for their role in the crime.

In February 2018, when the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) was carrying out protest demonstrations, a student at a private college in the Shabqadar area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had shot and killed his college principal for alleged blasphemy. Faheem, the first-year student at the college, had later told police that the college principal, Qari Sarir, had committed blasphemy. A police investigation later revealed that Faheem had been reprimanded for missing classes. “Prior to the murder, the principal had called the student to his office and asked him to explain his frequent absence from college. The student said that he had been participating in the TLP protests. The principal had then tried to convince the student that his education was more important for him. Faheem claimed that the principal had committed blasphemy,” police said.

A reviewing of several cases of alleged blasphemy showed that in most cases police had closed the investigation stating that the suspect had confessed to the crime and the motive for the crime was clear and there was no need for further investigation.

The prosecution and the courts are under pressure due to security concerns. As a result the facts about the crimes do not come to light.

In 2008, some militant organizations used to send journalists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa videos of beheading of security personnel. When some journalists asked Qari Hussain, the man behind many suicide attacks in the region, about why captives were being slaughtered, he said that it was to commemorate the early days of jehad when a sword was a standard weapon.

The writer is a Peshawar-based journalist, researcher and trainer on conflict and peace development. He can be reached at frkakakhel@gmail.com