Dr Kanbhar had gone into hiding on Tuesday after being accused of insulting Islam’s prophet Muhammad and sharing blasphemous content on social media. He is the second blasphemy suspect in Pakistan to be shot dead in the space of a week.

Police in southern Pakistan shot dead a blasphemy suspect during an alleged shootout with armed men, officials said Thursday, the second such apparent extra-judicial killing in a week, drawing condemnation from human rights groups.

The victim had posted a video of himself from a hotel claiming that his account had been hacked and he could not even imagine sharing blasphemous content.

Police in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province shot dead a man accused of blasphemy in an alleged encounter on Thursday, drawing condemnation.

Pakistani authorities have suspended policemen who opened fire and killed a blasphemy suspect earlier this week, only to be applauded and showered with rose petals by local residents after the killing.

The family of a blasphemy suspect killed in custody in southwestern Pakistan has forgiven the police officer accused of killing him, saying they would not press charges "in the name of God". Abdul Ali,