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Pakistan woman in Arabic script dress saved from mob claiming blasphemy
By Caroline Davies Pakistan correspondentShalik Riyadh/Instagram
The dress has the word "Halwa" printed in Arabic letters on it, meaning beautiful in Arabic
An angry mob in Pakistan accused a woman who wore a dress adorned with Arabic calligraphy of blasphemy, after mistaking them for Quran verses.
She was saved by police who escorted her to safety after hundreds gathered. She later gave a public apology.
The dress has the word "Halwa" printed in Arabic letters on it, meaning beautiful in Arabic.
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan. Some people have been lynched even before their cases go on trial.
Police told the BBC they first received a call at about 13:10 local (08:10 GMT) on Sunday that a crowd had gathered around a woman at a restaurant in Lahore, the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab.
Around 300 people had crowded outside the restaurant by the time they arrived, said Assistant Superintendent Syeda Shehrbano.
Videos of the scene circulated on social media, with one showing a woman, visibly scared, sitting in the far corner of the 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 shirt. In some videos, people can be heard chanting that those who blaspheme must be beheaded.
Footage shared on social media shows Ms Shehrbano standing at the restaurant's entrance, trying to restore order to an increasingly charged crowd.