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| Pakistan arrests dozens over Christian lynchings | Pakistan arrests dozens over Christian lynchings |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Dozens of people have been arrested in Pakistan after a Christian couple were beaten to death and their bodies burned for allegedly desecrating a Qur’an. | Dozens of people have been arrested in Pakistan after a Christian couple were beaten to death and their bodies burned for allegedly desecrating a Qur’an. |
| Blasphemy is a serious offence in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where those accused are sometimes lynched. | Blasphemy is a serious offence in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where those accused are sometimes lynched. |
| The couple had been accused of burning a copy of the holy book and throwing it in a bin in Kot Radha Kishan, Punjab province, according to local media on Tuesday. | The couple had been accused of burning a copy of the holy book and throwing it in a bin in Kot Radha Kishan, Punjab province, according to local media on Tuesday. |
| Police said their bodies were set alight in a brick kiln. “We have arrested 44 people, it was a local issue incited by the mullah of a local mosque,” Jawad Qamar, a regional police chief, said. “No particular sectarian group or religious outfit was behind the attack.” | Police said their bodies were set alight in a brick kiln. “We have arrested 44 people, it was a local issue incited by the mullah of a local mosque,” Jawad Qamar, a regional police chief, said. “No particular sectarian group or religious outfit was behind the attack.” |
| Blasphemy charges, even when they reach court, are punishable by death in Pakistan. But such claims are hard to challenge because the law does not define clearly what constitutes blasphemy, and merely presenting the evidence can sometimes be considered an infringement. | Blasphemy charges, even when they reach court, are punishable by death in Pakistan. But such claims are hard to challenge because the law does not define clearly what constitutes blasphemy, and merely presenting the evidence can sometimes be considered an infringement. |
| Christians comprise about 4% of the population and tend to keep a low profile in a country where Sunni Muslim militants frequently bomb targets they regard as heretical, including those used by other Muslim denominations. Minority groups have long complained that the state is failing to protect them. | Christians comprise about 4% of the population and tend to keep a low profile in a country where Sunni Muslim militants frequently bomb targets they regard as heretical, including those used by other Muslim denominations. Minority groups have long complained that the state is failing to protect them. |
| Last month a British man with a history of mental illness who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy this year was shot by a prison guard in his cell. Also in October, a Pakistani court upheld the death penalty against Asia Bibi, a Christian woman accused of blasphemy, in a case that drew global headlines after two prominent politicians who tried to help her were assassinated. |