Eight others were sentenced to two years in prison.

A cleric was among five persons who were on Thursday handed down death penalty by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan for burning alive a Christian couple after accusing them of committing blasphemy here in 2014.

Lahore anti-terrorism court Judge Chaudhry Muhammad Azam delivered the verdict after the prosecution presented all witnesses. He gave death sentence to five suspects, including a cleric, and also imposed a fine of Rs. 2,00,000 on each for lynching the couple. Eight other suspects were sentenced to two years in prison.

According to the charge-sheet, the suspects gathered a mob by making announcements from mosques that a Christian couple — Shahzad and Shama — committed blasphemy in Kot Radha Kishan area of Kasur district, some 50 km from here, in November 2014.