Why a Mob Went After Woman for This Colorful Dress

It was a frightening mistake that could've ended much worse
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 26, 2024 2:28 PM CST

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, so when a woman there was accused of said crime over the weekend, a mob made up of hundreds of angry men descended upon a Lahore restaurant where she was hiding out. The woman's supposed infraction, per the Independent: She was wearing a colorful dress with Arabic writing on it that her accusers thought contained verses from the Koran. The woman was said to have been shopping with her husband on Sunday when her attire caught the attention of bystanders, leading to around 300 people cornering her at the eatery.

The Times of India has video showing her huddling in fear inside the restaurant, with some men demanding she take the dress off or they'd take it off for her or yelling other threats. Police eventually arrived to bring her to safety, with a female officer escorting her out covered in what looked like a tablecloth or sheet. The BBC notes that the writing on her dress was actually just the Arabic word for "beautiful." At the police station, religious experts confirmed there was nothing inherently offensive, let alone blasphemous, about the writing on her dress.

The woman apologized for the "mistake," noting, "I'll make sure it never happens again." Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, who used to serve as an adviser to the Pakistani prime minister on religious matters, noted online how it should've been the mob of men apologizing, not the woman. Meanwhile, the woman, who told authorities she's a devout Muslim, has apparently since left the city. (More Pakistan stories.)

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