On Wednesday, a mob ransacked the home of Ryan Stanten, 16, after rumors spread that he had used his mobile phone to send blasphemous messages. Mr. Stanten and his mother, Rubina Brayn, had already gone into hiding soon after the allegations surfaced the previous day, according to police officials. The crowd dragged furniture out of the house and set fire to it in the street.
A relative of Mr. Stanten, who asked not to be identified, said some of the teenager’s friends had used his phone to send objectionable messages to some religiously observant neighbors. It was not clear whether they had done so as a prank or to cause him harm.
Mr. Stanten was not in custody, and the police said they did not know his whereabouts. The police said they had opened the case against him to calm the mob, which human rights campaigners say is a common tactic in such incidents.
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