Muslim Mob Kills Christian Couple Accused Of Burning Pages Of The Holy Quran
Police officials said the mob beat the couple to death, and then threw the bodies into the kiln.
By Sadho Ram — 05 Nov 2014, 01:34 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
On Tuesday, 4 November 2014, in a latest attack on Christians in Pakistan, a mob of Muslim men killed a Christian couple accused of burning pages of the Holy Quran. The enraged mob then incinerated their bodies in a brick kiln, The WSJ reported.
A Muslim mob killed a Christian couple accused of burning pages of the Quran in eastern Pakistan on Tuesday, police officials said. Earlier this year, a mob set fire to the belongings of the Ahmadiyya religious minority group after an allegedly blasphemous image posted on Facebook
Image via EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCYA livid mob beat a Christian couple in Pakistan and then burnt them alive in the brick kiln where they worked on Tuesday for allegedly desecrating pages of Holy Quran. The incident took place in the town of Kot Radha Kishan, some 60 kilometres southwest of the city of Lahore, and is the latest example of mob violence against minorities accused of blasphemy.
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According to AFP, local police identified the victims only as Shama and Shehzad. In Pakistan, the Christians are a religious minorities.
A security official told the BBC that local police had tried to save the couple, but they were outnumbered and attacked by the angry crowd. Senior police officials and government ministers have now arrived there to investigate the killings.
The couple were bonded labourers at a brick factory in the Punjab province. According to police and labour activists, they had a dispute with the owner of the factory over money they owed him.
Bonded laborers at brick factories in Pakistan are among the poorest people in the country, according to rights groups. They often start working with an employer by taking an initial advance payment on their salary. Owners then deduct a portion of their daily wage until the debt is repaid. Details of the slain Christian couple’s debt arrangements weren't immediately available.
wsj.comBut according to the local police there, some people, including the accountant and caretaker at the brick factory, had accused the Christian couple of desecrating the Holy Quran
The couple was detained in a room on the factory premises following the dispute over payments, police officials said. Members of Mr. Gujjar’s staff and his associates then accused Ms. Bibi and Mr. Masih of burning pages of the Quran, which spread in the village, according to the police account.
wsj.comA large group of villagers arrived at the factory, and beat the couple to death, throwing the bodies into the brick kiln. Kasur District Police Chief Jawad Qamar said: “By the time our first responders arrived at the scene, they had been killed.”
wsj.comBin Yameen, another police official, said: "At the moment, we know that allegedly pages of the Quran were burned, and that enraged villagers killed them. The investigation is ongoing, so I can't say."
The Kasur district police office said 42 people have been arrested, and raids are ongoing to find the other villagers involved in the murders. A local police official said reinforcements had to be called in to pacify the crowd. “Policemen arrived at the scene, but they could not control a crowd that size,” the official said.
wsj.comThe WSJ reported that "this type of violence is fueled by Pakistan's repressive blasphemy laws, which add to the climate of fear for religious minorities"
Pakistani Christian family members pray after lighting candles at the graves of their relative on All Souls’ Day at a cemetery in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014. The day honors the dead as friends and families gather in cemeteries to decorate graves of their loved ones with candles and flowers and offer prayers.
Image via nationalpost.comPakistan’s blasphemy laws carry strong punishments, including death for blasphemy, and life imprisonment for desecrating the Quran. Pakistan has never executed anyone convicted of blasphemy, but the mere allegations of blasphemy often incite mob violence and deadly vigilante attacks.
wsj.comSince the 1990s, scores of Christians have been found guilty of desecrating the Koran or of blasphemy. While most of them have been sentenced to death by the lower courts, many sentences have been overturned due to lack of evidence.