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Lahore – An enraged Muslim mob beat a Christian
couple to death in Pakistan and burnt their bodies in
the brick kiln where they worked on Tuesday for
allegedly desecrating a Koran, police said.
The incident took place in the town of Kot Radha
Kishan, some 60 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of
Lahore, and is the latest example of mob violence
against minorities accused of blasphemy.
“A mob attacked a Christian couple after accusing
them of desecration of the holy Koran and later burnt
their bodies at a brick kiln where they worked,” local
police station official Bin-Yameen told AFP.
“Yesterday an incident of desecration of the holy Koran
took place in the area and today the mob first beat the
couple and later set their bodies on fire at a brick kiln,”
he added.
Another police official confirmed the incident. The
victims were only identified by their first names, Shama
and Shehzad, and were a married couple.
Pakistan’s brick kiln workers are often subject to harsh
practices, with a study by the Bonded Labour
Liberation Front Pakistan estimating that 4.5 million
are indentured labourers.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif set up a three-
member committee to fast track the investigation of the
killings and ordered police to beef up security at
Christian neighbourhoods in the province, an official
from his media office told AFP.
– Hugely sensitive issue –
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in the majority
Muslim country, with even unproven allegations often
prompting mob violence.
Anyone convicted, or even just accused, of insulting
Islam, risks a violent and bloody death at the hands of
vigilantes.
A Christian woman has been on death row since
November 2010 after she was found guilty of making
derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed
during an argument with a Muslim woman.
An elderly British man with severe mental illness,
sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan in
January, was shot by a prison guard last month.
An internal investigation has found that the guard
had been radicalised and goaded into the shooting by
Mumtaz Qadri, a police bodyguard who murdered the
Punjab governor in 2011 for suggesting reform of the
blasphemy laws.
Qadri shot dead Punjab governor Salman Taseer at an
Islamabad coffee shop. Despite the brutal slaying,
Qadri was feted as a hero by a wide section of the
public including lawyers for the murder, and was even
showered with rose petals as he arrived at court for a
trial hearing.
Global rights watchdog Amnesty International urged
the Pakistani authorities to bring to justice those
responsible for the latest killing.
“This vicious mob killing is just the latest manifestation
of the threat of vigilante violence which anyone can
face in Pakistan after a blasphemy accusation –-
although religious minorities are disproportionately
vulnerable,” said David Griffiths, Amnesty
International’s deputy Asia Pacific director.
“Those responsible must be brought to justice and the
Pakistani authorities have to ensure at-risk
communities are proactively given the protection they
need.”
The Vanguard
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