The man, who was later identified as Mushtaq Ahmad, was lynched by an angry mob over allegedly burning pages of the Holy Quran. His body was later hung from a tree, and the police are reported to have played the role of silent spectators.

Ahmad was a resident of Mian Channu city of Khanewal district and was suffering from a mental illness for the past 15 years.

“We’re hijacked at the hands of Religious Hooligans!” said a social media user.

One person feared that society had lost every ounce of tolerance and humanity and “gone to the deepest pits of moral abyss.”

According to Pakistan's National Security Policy, the state has to protect people from extremism and extremists. “How would state answer to yet another brutal Mob Justice in Mian Channu?” asked user Jehad Zafar.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed to take strict action against the culprits and has asked Punjab IG for a full report on the incident.

Many believe it’s not enough to say that the government has “zero tolerance” policy towards such perpetrators.

Some people compared the incident with India’s hijab controversy and said that Pakistanis have no right to condemn Indians when such incidents are taking place in its own backyard.

This is not the first time people have taken the law into their own hands and acted as judges, jury and executioners. Last year in December, an angry mob had brutally lynched to death a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Kumara, and set his body on fire over allegedly committing blasphemy.