Christian couple killed for ‘desecrating Koran’ in Pakistan

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

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.