LAHORE: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday indicted 106 suspects in the Kot Radha Kishan Christian couple lynching that took place last year.

The court has also issued summons for tomorrow for witnesses in the case in order to record their statements against the suspects involved in Shama and Shahzad’s lynching.

The indictment of the 106 came after the police submitted a challan (charge-sheet) against the suspects at the ATC in Lahore Thursday.

The challan states that Maulvi Mohammad Hussain, Maulvi Arshad Baloch and Maulvi Noorul Hassan were involved in persistent provocative speech against the couple which led to the assembly of 400 people as a mob who then burnt Shama and Shahzad alive.

After the challan was presented at the hearing, the court also held Yousaf Gujjar, the owner of the brick kiln where the couple was beaten to death, responsible.

The enraged mob beat the Christian couple to death in November last year for allegedly desecrating a copy of the Holy Quran and burnt their bodies in the brick kiln where they worked.

The incident took place in the town of Kot Radha Kishan, some 60 kilometres southwest of Lahore.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, with even unproven allegations often prompting mob violence. Anyone convicted, or even just accused, of insulting Islam, risks a violent and bloody death at the hands of vigilantes.