Tag: Punjab

Two Pakistani Christian sewerage workers die from poisonous gases

May 29, 2018 Pakistan Caste, Karachi, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab, Sweepers

As Pakistani Christians comprise more than 80 per cent of the country's sewerage and street cleaning force, they run a higher risk of work related injuries, sometimes causing death. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Two more Christian sewerage workers have died in Pakistan while opening a clogged sewerage line without protective gear. Data collected by World Watch Monitor in 2013 showed that, despite Pakistani Christians comprising only 1.5 per cent of the population, they account for more than 80 per cent of the sewerage . . . Read More

Pakistani court hands down 14 years in prison for rape of 7 year-old Christian girl

May 25, 2018 Pakistan Pakistan, Punjab, Rape, Sialkot, Women

In Pakistan it is rare to see prosecutions on behalf of Christians going through to a conclusion in court. (Photo: Nadir Burney via Flickr; CC 2.0)

A Pakistani court has sentenced a young man who raped a seven year old Christian girl on Easter Day four years ago, to 14 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 Pakistani rupees (c.US $2,000). The verdict has been greeted by activists, as one of the few examples where . . . Read More

Pakistan: bereaved parents accept compensation but suspect walks free

May 10, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Burewala, Caste, Diyat, Pakistan, Punjab, Sharoon Masih, Vehari

Family of Sharoon Masih (World Watch Monitor)

The family of a Christian boy beaten to death on his second day in secondary school have accepted the offer of compensation from the family of the accused. The Islamic concept of paying diyat (blood money) to the victim’s family allowed the suspect to walk free. Sharoon Masih, 17, was . . . Read More

Gunman shoots Pakistan minister over blasphemy law

May 9, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Catholics, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Mumtaz Qadri, Narowal, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

Pakistan’s interior minister, who has championed the country’s minority communities, has survived an assassination attempt by a gunman protesting against the country’s blasphemy laws. Ahsan Iqbal was shot in the arm before police overpowered his suspected attacker, 21-year-old Abid Hussain, the BBC reported. Iqbal was shot on Sunday (6 May) . . . Read More

Pakistan: family of Christian boy killed by police compensated in ‘rare victory’

April 26, 2018 Pakistan Diyat, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan, Police, Punjab, Sheikhupura

The family of a Christian boy who was killed while in police custody has been compensated for more than the standard amount paid out in similar cases. A lawyer working for the family called the outcome a “rare victory”. Arsalan Masih, a 16-year-old student from Sheikhupura in the north-eastern Punjab . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian dies after being set on fire by Muslim in alleged dispute over who should convert

April 23, 2018 Pakistan Marriage, Pakistan, Punjab, Sialkot, Women

A Christian woman from north-eastern Pakistan has died from her injuries after being set on fire by a Muslim man, who claims it was an accident and followed a discussion about which of them should convert if they were to marry. Asma Yaqoob, 24, died in a Lahore hospital yesterday . . . Read More

Pakistan: Islamic university opens Christian chapel – a first

April 20, 2018 Pakistan Education, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab, Rawalpindi, Religious freedom, Sharoon Masih, Vehari

Religious minorities in Pakistan have to declare their religion when applying for identification papers or for government jobs making them "even more vulnerable" activists say. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

For the first time ever, an Islamic university in Pakistan has opened a Christian chapel. The church of St. Mary is located in the atrium of the Agriculture University of Faisalabad, Pakistan’s third-most populous city, and was built following an initiative of the city’s former vicar general, reports AsiaNews. The church contributed . . . Read More

Pakistan court acquits 20 in case of Christian couple burnt alive

March 26, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Bonded labourers, Lahore, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab, Quran, Shahzad Masih, Shama Bibi

Relatives of Shahzad Masih and his five-months-pregnant wife Shama Bibi are oraying at the site where the couple was killed for their “blasphemous” act on 4 November 2014. (Photo: Getty Images/AFP/Arif Ali)

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore, Pakistan, on Saturday (24 March) acquitted 20 men suspected of involvement in the murder of a Christian couple burnt alive at the kiln where they worked in November 2014 – after it was alleged that they had set fire to some pages from a Quran. . . . Read More

Pakistan Christian escapes death for ‘clearly fabricated’ blasphemy

March 22, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gujranwala, Pakistan, Punjab

A Pakistani Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy nearly two years ago has been acquitted. The case against him – brought by a police officer whose protection he sought against two blackmailers – was “clearly fabricated”, his lawyer said after the 13 March acquittal. Anjum Sandhu, from the north-eastern city . . . Read More

Easter banner torn down from Pakistan church

March 20, 2018 Pakistan Burewala, Christmas, Churches, Easter, Pakistan, Punjab

Armed violence broke out in eastern Pakistan on Sunday, 18 March, over an Easter banner hung outside a church. The incident took place in a Christian colony in Burewala, Punjab province. Police intervened and arrested three Muslim suspects, while seven injured Christians were taken to a local hospital. The church’s . . . Read More

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