A court in northwestern Pakistan has sentenced to life imprisonment two men convicted of involvement in the killing of Mashal Khan, a university student who was beaten and then fatally shot by a mob in 2017 after being falsely accused of blasphemy.

The two men — Arif Khan, a local leader of Pakistan's ruling party led by former cricket star Imran Khan, and Asad Khan — were in court in Peshawar for the sentencing.

The death of the 23-year-old Mashal was caught on video that later circulated on social media. Initially 61 people were charged with a variety of offences and 57 people were handed varying sentences in the case. Many are appealing the verdicts.

It wasn't immediately known if the two men sentenced on Thursday would also appeal.