Body of Sri Lankan lynching victim arrives from Pakistan

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The charred body of a factory manager who was lynched by a mob in Pakistan for alleged blasphemy has been brought back to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan national was assaulted by a mob of hundreds of people before being dragged into the streets and set on fire last Friday in Sialkot, Pakistan, where he helped run a sports equipment factory. Workers at the factory accused him of desecrating posters bearing the name of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Sir Lankan government officials received Kumara’s body in a wooden box decorated with flower garlands and prepared to hand over the coffin to his family to perform his last rites. Mere allegations of blasphemy can trigger mob attacks in Pakistan.