Pakistan - Blasphemy accusations leveled against a Christian woman proved false

A Christian woman namely Azra Bibi escapes false blasphemy accusations after being deceptively accused of burning pages of Holy Quran. On October 28, a torn and partially burned copy of the Islamic sacred book was found in a house next to Azra Bibi’s house. Respondent’s husband while detailing the incident said that his wife Azra Bibi saw smoke rising from the house next to theirs.

Blasphemy cases in Pakistan

This house was abandoned and is owned by two Muslims Anwar Khan and Irfan Khan. “Few pages of the holy Quran were found the courtyard of the house owned by Anwar Khan Lodhi. The house is lying vacant for about two or three months. On further search, the Holy Quran was found in the washroom with a ewer on it; an unidentified person has committed desecration,” Pervaiz Masih, Azra’s husband stated.

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He said that by the evening clerics had gathered at the scene and the police was also called. An FIR was also registered at the Manawala Polcie Station. He further said that one of the clerics said that the Christian family living next door should also be involved in the investigations and their house must be searched.

He continued to state: “Two days later, an unidentified person called me on the phone and said that he was the ‘in-charge of the police station’ and that a case had been registered against me. It really unnerved me and I told my brother that a case has been lodged but I had no courage to go to the police station. But then I thought that as none of us was there [at the time], so no crime could be attributed to us.

I work as a sweeper in a bank and there are cameras etc. for verification of my presence there. Also, my wife works as a cleaner in a nearby maternity hospital. When she came home, the fire was already lit up,” he stated.

“I asked my wife to request her employer, a very influential person in the area, to check with the police station if we were named in the First Information Report. Her employer confirmed that the case was registered against unknown persons and that our family did not need to flee from the area or fear any backlash.

Three days later a local meeting was called to ascertain who committed the crime. In that meeting one Muslim family assured the participants that they would take an oath, while placing their hands on the heads of their children, as a sign of complete trust in us.

Then Abu Obaid, a famous local lawyer, gave full guarantee that Christians in the area were not involved and if ever proved, he could stand accused of the crime. Similarly, Irfan Khan, brother of Anwar Khan, assured the gathering that Christians were not involved. Irfan Khan said that they are living with us for the last 40 years and they haven’t done ever anything like this,” he narrated.