Christians Protest After Mob Murders Couple Over Blasphemy In Pakistan
Christian minorities in Pakistan are reportedly protesting after a young Christian couple in Pakistan was publicly murdered by a mob for blasphemy this past week.
The couple, 24-year-old Shama Bibi and 27-year-old Sajjad Maseeh, were reportedly killed by a mob in the Pakistani town of Kot Radha Kishan recently after members of the town accused the Christian couple of burning the Quran.
Media reports indicate that hundreds of people participated in the attack against the young Christian couple, reportedly locking them in a local brick-making factory and breaking their legs so they could not flee. The couple was then wrapped in highly-flammable cotton and placed atop the brick kiln to burn for their alleged blasphemy.
"They picked them up by their arms and legs and held them over the brick furnace until their clothes caught fire," family spokesman Javed Maseeh told NBC News. "And then they threw them inside the furnace."
The recent horrific act has resulted in protests from other Christian minorities in Pakistan, and local police have reportedly arrested 55 people in connection with the young couple's death.
Some close to the family suggest that when Bibi's father recently died, the young woman burned articles he kept in his room to practice black magic. Some of the articles reportedly resembled pages of the Koran, and a local trash collector reported Bibi for desecrating the Holy Book.
"Shama burned the amulets and some other related material, assuming that this was the best way to get rid of 'evil stuff,'" a family member told Morningstar News. "She later threw the ashes on a garbage heap outside their quarters when Muhammad Irfan, a Muslim co-worker, noticed some half-burnt pieces of paper from the amulets and raised a clamor, claiming that Shahzad's family had desecrated Quranic pages."
