Remains of Sri Lankan lynching victim arrives from Pakistan

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The charred remains of a factory manager who was lynched by a mob in Pakistan over alleged blasphemy have 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 on Monday received Kumara’s remains in a wooden box decorated by flower garlands, before preparations to hand over the coffin to his family to perform his last rites. Mere allegations of blasphemy can trigger mob attacks in Pakistan where the death penalty can be legally applied for blasphemy cases.