A man was shot dead in a Pakistani courtroom while undergoing trial for blasphemy.

According to a report by Al-Jazeera, Tahir Ahmad Nadeem was shot six times in a courtroom in the Pakistani city of Peshawar where he was undergoing trial for calling himself a prophet.

Although Pakistan has tough anti-blasphemy laws, more people have been killed as a result of mob action or extrajudicial killings than the law itself.

Nadeem’s killer admitted to the killing and surrendered himself to authorities. He told police that he killed the defendant for his sin of blasphemy.

Nadeem was already undergoing trial for violating sections 295-A, 295-B and 295-C of the Pakistani penal code which deals with issues of blasphemy against Islam. The penal code criminalises “defiling the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad”, which carries a death sentence.

Nadeem has become a part of the growing statistics of singers, teachers, lawyers, judges and members of the Amadi sect killed for alleged blasphemy against Islam.