Eight charged over Mashal Khan's murder

PESHAWAR: Eight Pakistanis who brutally murdered a fellow university student over his liberal views were charged with murder and terrorism on Saturday, court officials said.

Mashal Khan, a journalism student, was stripped, beaten, shot, and thrown from the second floor of his hostel at the Abdul Wali Khan university in northwestern town of Mardan on Thursday by a large mob.

So far a total of 12 people have been arrested over the incident and police are hunting for more suspects.

"Eight students were presented before an anti-terrorism court in Mardan over murder and challenging the writ of the state," public prosecutor Rafiullah Khan told AFP.

Four others were arrested Saturday, Khan said.

Mushtaq Ghani, Information Minister of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the government had also requested Peshawar High Court to conduct a judicial probe into the incident.

Students had previously complained to university authorities about Khan's alleged secular and liberal views and Khan had been in a heated debate during a class the day he was killed.

At his funeral on Friday, Khan's father said he hoped his son's murder would "evoke realisation among people that killing an innocent is a sin".