Alleged blasphemy: Two Christian families on the run in Sheikhupura

Case was registered against unidentified suspects for desecrating Holy Quran

LAHORE: Two Christian families have gone into hiding in Sheikhupura fearing for their lives after the registration of a blasphemy case against unidentified suspects.

On Friday, Mananwala police registered an FIR under section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Sub-inspector Shafqat Ali, who alleged some suspects had allegedly desecrated the Holy Quran at an abandoned house in Khan Colony.



Duty officer Ishtiaq told The Express Tribune the police were trying to trace the suspects and would question many people.

The police contacted M*, who lives in the house adjacent to the crime scene, to get some details about the incident. But after the telephone call, the families of M* and his nephew W* went into hiding. Their house was found locked.

M* told The Express Tribune that only his daughter, a Master’s student, was in the house when the people spotted the desecrated pages in the neighbouring house. He said the family fled as several people were accusing them of the crime.

After Friday prayers, he added, there were rumours of an attack on their house but luckily nothing happened.

M* said the actual problem stemmed from a 10-marla plot owned by the family in 1980. He said his family paid the price of the land but could not transfer it to their name after running out of money. Now the previous owners were trying to implicate the family in a fake case to take over their plot, he alleged.



His nephew claimed that someone who introduced him as a police officer had informed him on his phone about the FIR registered against the family. Later, when the family got a copy of the FIR, they found there were no names of the suspects.

(* names withheld to protect identity) 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2016.