Christian community in Pakistan attacked over blasphemy allegations, house burned down

Islamabad, Pakistan:

At least five members of a minority Christian community were rescued on Saturday after a Muslim mob attacked their settlement in eastern Pakistan, police and a community leader said.

The crowd, accusing the Christian group of blasphemy, threw stones and bricks at police, said Shariq Kamal, Sargodha district police chief.

A large police presence had cordoned off the settlement, he said. The crowd had been pushed back and five injured Christians had been taken to hospital.

At least one house and a small shoe factory were set on fire by protesters who had gathered after neighbors claimed that Islam’s holy book, the Koran, had been desecrated by a member of a minority community, according to a police spokesman and Christian leader Akmal Bhatti.

“They burned down a house and lynched several Christians,” Bhatti said.

Videos posted on social media show protesters looting items from burning buildings, while others can be seen throwing the items into a pile on the fire on a street.

Bhatti said the videos were images from the crime scene.

Reuters could not independently verify the images.

Pakistan’s independent human rights commission said the Christian community was “in grave danger of death from the attacking mobs.”

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, with its conservative Muslim majority. A mere accusation can lead to a lynching on the street.

Human rights groups say Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws are often abused to settle personal scores.

Although blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, no one has ever been executed for it. However, numerous defendants have been lynched by angry mobs.

Last year, a Muslim mob attacked a Christian community in East Pakistan, vandalising several churches and setting fire to numerous houses after accusing two of its members of desecrating the Koran.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)