Mob attempts to kill Christian boy accused of blasphemy

An angry Pakistani mob has attempted to kill a 16-year-old Christian boy for allegedly burning the pages of a Quran, despite inconsistent evidence against him.

Asif Masih - who is completely illiterate and has learning difficulties - was accosted by a local rival, Muhammad Nawaz, also known as Majhoo, who accused him of breaking into a collection box at a Sufi saint's nearby shrine.

"As soon as a mob gathered, Majhoo incited them by saying that Asif had burned pages of a Quran, at which people started beating him up," Waheed Masih, Asif's uncle, told news agency World Watch Monitor.

"Police from a nearby check-post arrived and put Asif in their van, but people still were trying to beat him up and pull him out," he continued. "They were shouting that they wanted to kill him and burn his body. Until [more police] arrived, Asif was still being beaten up and, out of fear, confessed that he had burned the pages."

Conflicting evidence

The accusation of blasphemy was filed by an imam of the local mosque who claimed that he and two others witnessed Asif entering the Pir Sandhay Shah shrine at 12.30 on 12 August, taking the Quran and setting it alight.

Ivan Gill, a community leader, rejects the claim: "The shrine is about two kilometres from the village and 12.30 is the time of Zohar prayer. How could the imam not be at his mosque, but instead had gone to a shrine two kilometres away?"

The shrine is also extremely small, so only two or three can enter it at a time. "When these three [witnesses] were there, Asif could not have entered to pick up the Quran. Even if he managed, then why could these three not stop him?" Gill said.

Waheed, Asif's uncle, also learned that, two weeks before the incident burned pages of the Quran had been found outside the shrine - no-one knew who had burned them - and Majhoo was aware of this.

Despite this, the Sub-Inspector in charge of the check-post, Parvaiz Gujar, told World Watch Monitor: "Asif confessed to the crime when rescued from the mob and we have evidence that he committed the crime." Talking to a local English-language newspaper, Gujar said: "The police saved him from the enraged mob... His family should be grateful to the police. The mob surrounded the police station but we pacified the protesters with the help of the notables of the area."

'Exploitation' under blasphemy law criticised

Asif has now been charged under Section 295B of the blasphemy law for 'insulting the Quran'. If found guilty, he faces life imprisonment.

The controversial blasphemy law - which is under review - carries the death penalty for anyone found insulting the Prophet Muhammad, and is often misused to settle personal scores and to persecute minorities.

A day before this incident, a Pakistani judge had asked Parliament to amend the blasphemy law to 'require the same punishment (usually the death penalty) for those who falsely allege blasphemy as for those who commit the crime'. Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court said 'it was better to stop exploitation of the law rather than to abolish it'.

Last month, a 16-year-old boy was charged with blasphemy simply for talking with a colleague about his belief in Jesus, the second such incident in a month.

Another 16-year-old, Nabeel Masih, was accused of blasphemy and refused bail for 'liking' and 'sharing' a Facebook post which 'defamed and disrespected' the Kaaba in Mecca.

And five years ago, a 14-year-old girl with learning difficulties, Rimsha Masih, was falsely accused by a local imam of burning pages from an Islamic textbook. She was jailed after angry crowds threatened to burn Christian homes in the sector of Islamabad, where her family lived. After her case was thrown out, the family had to live in hiding to escape mob justice.

Pakistan is number four on the 2017 Open Doors World Watch List - a ranking of the countries where Christians face the severest persecution for their faith. The abuses of Pakistan's blasphemy laws are some of the starkest examples of persecution in Pakistan.