After last nights incident of the arrest of Humayun Masih who has been charged for burning Holy pages, most of the residents of the area have left their homes.
In the area of Dhoop Sari almost 100 Christians are living, out of which numerous have fled to safer locations and locks can be seen on almost every door. Other locals have reported that most of the Christian residents have fled amid fears of the Joseph Colony incident being repeated.
After last night’s arrests, a charged mob reached the house of the accused and blocked roads to protest. They had deadly weapons and there have been reports of 15 houses being looted. Aerial firing was also done.
Rashda Alamgir, a Christian woman told BBC Urdu, “When the incident happened I was at home with my kids. The mob was chanting anti Christian slogans, and destroying property. I remained confined in my home till 12am and we went from one room to another not knowing what else to do.”
She also said, “At 12am the police helped us come out of our own home and I spent the night at my relatives house. I came back in the morning.”
The local church of the area is also locked. Pastor Riaz Arif told BBC Urdu that he has sent his wife and children to a safer place. He himself is confined inside his home because his old mother is can not be left alone.
Another resident of the area said that the mob was successfully dispersed by the police but as time passed, the mob became so strong it was difficult for the police to control them and baton charge was used by the police
The resident of the locality further said the charged protesters looted belongings from houses, broke electricity meters and also broke down doors of houses.
Although a heavy contingent of police and rangers is on duty in the area, many residents have still not returned fearing their fate might be like that of residents of Joseph Colony, where 200 Christian houses were burned down after alleged blasphemy remarks.
- See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/residents-of-dhoop-sari-speak-out-fear-grips-fleeing-locals/#sthash.BTFttQoc.dpuf
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