LAHORE: An enraged mob beat a Christian couple to death in Pakistan and burnt their bodies in the brick kiln where they worked yesterday for allegedly desecrating a Quran, police said.
The incident took place at the town of Kot Radha Kishan, some 60km southwest of the city 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 Quran and later burnt their bodies at a brick kiln where they worked,” local police station official Bin-Yameen said.
“Yesterday an incident of desecration of the Quran 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 has constituted 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 said.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in the majority Muslim country, with even unproven allegations often prompting mob violence.
A Christian woman has been on death row since November 2010 after she was found guilty of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed(peace be upon him) during an argument with a Muslim woman.
An elderly British man with severe mental illness, sentenced to death for blasphemy in January, was shot by a prison guard last month. Global rights watchdog Amnesty International in a statement urged the Pakistani authorities to bring to justice those responsible for the vicious mob 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.
AFP
