Heinous – An Asian True Crime Podcast

On April 13, 2017, a rumor moved faster than the truth ever could. Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old journalism student at a university in northern Pakistan, had spent months asking the questions no one wanted answered; about tuition hikes, about a vice-chancellor who was rarely seen on campus, about where the money was going. He wrote about it. He talked about it. And on a campus already uneasy with his outspoken, secular worldview, that was enough to make him a target.

Within hours, a rumor of blasphemy, later proven entirely baseless by a government investigation, turned into a mob of his own classmates and university staff. What happened next was a tragedy recorded on dozens of phones and watched by the entire country.

Part 1: We look into the murder of Mashal Khan and the immediate aftermath on campus, as well as his family's effort to bring justice, and to protect themselves from further harm.

Part 2: We follow the controversy following the initial sentencing, and uncover the systems and corruptions that allowed a group of students and university staff to lynch a student based on the country's blasphemy laws.

Join your fellow Heinous fans and interact with the team at our website or through our socials (IG, TikTok) @heinous_1upmedia.
-
Love Heinous? But feel its getting too dark for you? Check out:
📝💕 "Post, Love", Essays on Love, Life and Everything in Between.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On April 13, 2017, a rumor moved faster than the truth ever could. Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old journalism student at a university in northern Pakistan, had spent months asking the questions no one wanted answered; about tuition hikes, about a vice-chancellor who was rarely seen on campus, about where the money was going. He wrote about it. He talked about it. And on a campus already uneasy with his outspoken, secular worldview, that was enough to make him a target.

Within hours, a rumor of blasphemy, later proven entirely baseless by a government investigation, turned into a mob of his own classmates and university staff. What happened next was a tragedy recorded on dozens of phones and watched by the entire country.

Part 1: We look into the murder of Mashal Khan and the immediate aftermath on campus, as well as his family's effort to bring justice, and to protect themselves from further harm.

Part 2: We follow the controversy following the initial sentencing, and uncover the systems and corruptions that allowed a group of students and university staff to lynch a student based on the country's blasphemy laws.

Join your fellow Heinous fans and interact with the team at our website or through our socials (IG, TikTok) @heinous_1upmedia.
-
Love Heinous? But feel its getting too dark for you? Check out:
📝💕 "Post, Love", Essays on Love, Life and Everything in Between.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's just after 7am at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a dormitory residence at the campus of Virginia Tech in the United States. A resident advisor hears strange noises in the room next to his and goes to investigate. Shortly after, police arrive on the scene, and two students are found dead in the same room that the RA went to. They proceed with their investigation and close off the dorms. They thought it was a domestic incident. They thought it was isolated. They thought it was contained.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

Over the next two hours, classes begin as scheduled. An email goes out to faculty mentioning the two students found earlier that morning, advising caution. There wasn't a lockdown. There wasn't a campus-wide alert.

And by the time those two hours were over, it would be too late for thirty more people.

Join your fellow Heinous fans and interact with the team at our website or through our socials (IG, TikTok) @heinous_1upmedia.
-
Love Heinous? But feel its getting too dark for you? Check out:
📝💕 "Post, Love", Essays on Love, Life and Everything in Between.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In September of 2014, the bodies of two young British tourists, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, were discovered on the shores of Sairee Beach in Koh Tao, Thailand. At that point, Koh Tao was mostly known to the outside world as a destination island for divers, with plenty of dive schools and bars lining the beachfront. This incident however, threatened to tarnish the island's reputation, and so officials were scrambling to ensure the safety of the tourists on the island, as well as to catch the culprit responsible for the heinous crime.

But this is where the investigation turns tricky. There was no CCTV footage near the crime scene; and most of Koh Tao's residents were illegal immigrants with no proper documentation. And yet, in a few weeks following the discovery of the murders, the police were proud to announce that the culprits had been caught, and that they had confessed.

The only issue though, was that no one in the country believed them.

Part 1: We look into the island's socio-political background, so as to better understand the complicated nature of investigations inherent in this case.

Part 2: We follow the fallout and controversy following the alleged killers' withdrawal of their initial confessions; and the legal system that fought to keep them guilty.

Join your fellow Heinous fans and interact with the team at our website or through our socials (IG, TikTok) @heinous_1upmedia.
-
Love Heinous? But feel its getting too dark for you? Check out:
📝💕 "Post, Love", Essays on Love, Life and Everything in Between.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In September of 2014, the bodies of two young British tourists, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, were discovered on the shores of Sairee Beach in Koh Tao, Thailand. At that point, Koh Tao was mostly known to the outside world as a destination island for divers, with plenty of dive schools and bars lining the beachfront. This incident however, threatened to tarnish the island's reputation, and so officials were scrambling to ensure the safety of the tourists on the island, as well as to catch the culprit responsible for the heinous crime.

But this is where the investigation turns tricky. There was no CCTV footage near the crime scene; and most of Koh Tao's residents were illegal immigrants with no proper documentation. And yet, in a few weeks following the discovery of the murders, the police were proud to announce that the culprits had been caught, and that they had confessed.

The only issue though, was that no one in the country believed them.

Part 1: We look into the island's socio-political background, so as to better understand the complicated nature of investigations inherent in this case.

Part 2: We follow the fallout and controversy following the alleged killers' withdrawal of their initial confessions; and the legal system that fought to keep them guilty.

Join your fellow Heinous fans and interact with the team at our website or through our socials (IG, TikTok) @heinous_1upmedia.
-
Love Heinous? But feel its getting too dark for you? Check out:
📝💕 "Post, Love", Essays on Love, Life and Everything in Between.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.