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AN unnamed woman in Lahore, Pakistan, had to be rescued from a vicious, ignorant mob who wrongly claimed that that a dress she was wearing bore words from the Koran and was therefore “blasphemous.“

The terrified woman might well have injured or killed had it not been for the swift action of poiice officer, Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi, who, according to The Times of India, intervened and rescued from the angry lunatics.

For putting her own life in danger, the Punjab Police recommended she be given a prestigious Quaid-e-Azam Police Medal (QPM), the highest gallantry award for law enforcement in Pakistan.

The policewoman shed light on the incident, explaining that the mob misinterpreted the words on dress, or kurta, and thought they were verses from the Koran. The incident occurred when the woman was spotted wearing the garment while out shopping with her husband on Sunday.

The BBC adds that the dress had the word “Halwa” printed in Arabic letters on it, meaning beautiful in Arabic.

Videos of the scene circulated on social media, with one showing a woman, visibly scared, sitting in the far corner of a restaurant, shielding her face with her hand.

In another, she is surrounded by officers, who had formed the only barrier between her and a growing crowd who were shouting for her to remove the garment. In some videos, people can be heard chanting that those who blaspheme must be beheaded.

Shehrbano is quoted as saying:

Nobody actually knew what was written on the shirt. The major feat was to try to get that woman out of the area in order to ensure that she is safe.

Shehrbano adds that she had to “negotiate” with the crowd.

Footage later showed Shehrbano putting her arm around the woman, now covered by a black robe and a headscarf, and pushing through the crowd. Other police officers formed a chain with their arms to clear their path as people in the crowd pushed against them.

Shehrbano said supporters of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party were among those in the crowd.

The woman was brought into a police station, where several religious scholars confirmed that the text on her dress was Arabic calligraphy, not verses from the Koran.

The police then asked the scholars to record a video stating their findings and that the woman was innocent.

The victim later said:

I apologise for all that happened, and I’ll make sure it never happens again.

She added that she is a devout Muslim and would never commit blasphemy.

Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, a former adviser to the Prime Minister on religious affairs said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the men in the crowd, rather than the woman, should have been the ones to apologise.

Shehrbano said authorities have seen a “mushrooming of incidents” similar to that on Sunday.

Hat tip: BarrieJohn

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