Thirteen members of the same Christian family in Lahore have been threatened with being burnt alive because a Muslim woman has eloped with a Christian boy of Haji Park, Taj Pura.

This incident has upset and infuriated local Muslims, causing them to threaten local Christians, even saying they would burn them alive.

The situation arose when Christian man Bahadur eloped with a married Muslim woman and mother-of-two. After their elopement, the local Muslims became furious and threatened local Christians with dire consequences.

They deem is as not only a matter of one Muslim family, but a matter of honour for the whole Muslim community.

Some Muslims have already threatened to abduct and kidnap Christian girls from the area and burn them alive if the Muslim woman is not returned to the family. This situation has created chaos for the local Christian residents and they are living in fear. The Christian leadership has been requested to take notice of the situation.

Moreover, Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Provincial Minister for Minorities Affairs and Human Rights, Khaleel Tahir Sindhu, Federal Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael, Christian lawmakers and law enforcement authorities are being approached to help the imperilled Christians and take timely action to avoid any atrocities taking place.

Nasir Saeed, Director CLAAS-UK, said such incidents rarely occur but if they do then the extended family, and sometimes the local Christian community has to pay the price for one individual’s action.

According to the Pakistani law they have not committed a crime as they are both adult and there is no evidence the Muslim woman was kidnapped. She went with the Christian man of her own free will.

Mr Saeed said: “Unfortunately in Pakistani society Christians are looked upon with hatred and as inferior to the Muslims. Therefore, such incidents are never tolerated. Growing hatred and intolerance against Christians makes it even worse.

“Everyday several Christian girls, some under age are kidnapped, abducted, and/or forcibly converted to Islam but the government and even courts fail to do justice with Christian and Hindu families.”

According to reports every year 1000 Christian and Hindu girls are abducted, raped and forcibly converted to Islam and it is all in the knowledge of the politicians and the courts, but nobody has ever bothered to try to bring any legislation to stop this ongoing persecution of minority girls in Pakistan.

“The Government must take notice of such threats and Christian families must be protected and treated equally, as it is said in article 25 of the Pakistani constitution, that all citizens are equal before the law,” said Mr Saeed.