Kasur: A livid mob beat a Christian couple in Pakistan and then burnt them alive in the brick kiln where they worked on Tuesday for allegedly desecrating pages of Holy Quran.
The incident took place in the town of Kot Radha Kishan, some 60 kilometres southwest of the city of Lahore, and is the latest example of mob violence against minorities accused of blasphemy.
A police official confirmed the incident. The victims were only identified by their first names, Shama (31) and Shehzad (35), and were a married couple with children. Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Muslim-majority Pakistan, 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.
Emaneul Sarfraz, a relative of the deceased couple, told PTI that his cousins had been working in the kiln of one Muhammad Yousuf Gujjar for some time. The couple along with their four children wanted to leave the kiln as Yousuf was not paying them their remuneration. Instead, he was demanding Rs 500,000 from them, if they wanted to quit.
“Two days ago, after an exchange of words, Yousuf locked the couple along with their children in a room,” Emaneul said. He further said that an announcement was made on Tuesday from two mosques that Shehzad Masih and his wife had committed blasphemy by burning the pages of Quran.
“A large number of Muslims led by area clerics reached the kiln and dragged the couple out of the room after breaking into it. They first thrashed them and then threw them in the kiln. No one from the crowd paid heed to the couple, who kept pleading that they were innocent and that Yousuf had levelled a false allegation of blasphemy to settle a money dispute,” Emanuel said, adding, “Thank God they did not burn the children.”
He alleged that the police from the nearby post had reached there on time but did not intervene on seeing the charged mob.
Pakistan’s brick kiln workers are often subject to harsh practices, with one study 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 the police to beef up security in Christian neighbourhoods of the province.
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.
