Published on: 19 September 2023
DOHI NEWS
On September 9, an accusation of blasphemy by a Muslim neighbor led police to arrest a Christian couple in the Dogaij Chowki area of Harbanspura, Lahore. Authorities, fearful of a repetition of the violent events in Jaranwala from three weeks ago, took Shaukat Masih, 33, and his 28-year-old wife, Kiran, into custody.
The couple has been charged with desecrating the Koran under Section 295-B of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which carries a potential punishment of life behind bars.
According to a First Information Report (FIR) filed with police, neighbor Muhammad Taimoor alleged that he was standing near the family’s house on Friday, September 8, when pages of the Muslim holy book fell from the couple’s rooftop. Taimoor then entered the house, went to the rooftop, and found the couple’s children playing with a bag containing torn pages of the Koran.
Sources close to the family state that neither Shaukat nor Kiran were home at the time of the incident. It is believed that the couple’s three children (ages 7, 9, and 13) were playing on the rooftop when they happened upon the bag which contained wastepaper to be sold for scrape that Kiran had received from one of her employers.
A human rights advocate connected to the case stated that the allegations of blasphemy are groundless and hopes that the couple will soon be released on bail. Kiran also denies knowing what the bag of wastepaper contained.
Currently, the family’s three children are being taken care of by Christian friends. One of the children has special needs.
The Tragedy in Jaranwala
In a similar incident on August 16, false accusations of blasphemy against two Christian men set the ball of hatred and revenge spiraling out of control which culminated in violent mob attacks against Christians and churches in Jaranwala, Faisalabad District, Punjab Province.
After the attacks, the entire Christian community was left devastated.
Our sources on the ground reported that the homes of 300 Christian families were set on fire and over 21 churches were destroyed.
What sets this incident apart from all other events of Christian persecution in Pakistan over the last 25 years is that almost ALL the churches of the city were burned down in a span of only 4 hours!
During those four hours, the police did absolutely nothing to help the victims of the attacks and stop the violence. They simply waited in silence until the mob had finished committing its horrible crimes against the Believers.
Thankfully, no one died in the brutal attacks.
Read more here: MOB ATTACKS CHRISTIANS, DESTROYING CHURCHES – Door of Hope International (dohi.org)
