Patiala, July 15 -- A 45-year-old man, accused in a 2020 sacrilege case and who was released on bail recently, was allegedly hacked to death with a sharp-edged weapon, police said on Tuesday.

Mewa Singh was killed by an unidentified assailant at his home in Ladpur Tooran village near Mandi Gobindgarh of Fatehgarh Sahib district at midnight, they said.

This is the first killing of a sacrilege accused after the Punjab government notified the new stringent law in April this year prescribing stringent punishment, including life imprisonment, for acts of sacrilege involving Guru Granth Sahib.

The victim was at home with his family when the assailant allegedly scaled the boundary wall, entered the house, and attacked him, police said. He suc...