PAKISTAN: A man was beaten to death for alleged blasphemy on Saturday night, police said today.

Maulana Nigar Alam, 40, said a concluding prayer at a rally in defence of the judiciary in Sawaldher, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but fellow rally-goers said it was blasphemous and beat him to death.

Blasphemy can carry a death sentence in Pakistan, and extremists often kill those accused of it without legal proceedings.