Lahore protest for release of two innocent Christians tortured after blasphemy allegation
Demonstrators rallied in Pakistan to protest against the blasphemy law being used as a tool to discriminate against Christians and other religious minorities.
On March 5, in Lahore Pakistani Christian campaigners and Muslim friends gathered peacefully at the Lahore Press Club.
Members of different organisations gathered outside the establishment to declare solidarity to demand appropriate action from the government to tackle the law. The recent treatment of two young Christian men had again highlighted the misuse of the blasphemy law.
In recent weeks the treatment of two young men has brought the misuse of the blasphemy laws to the forefront of the political agenda, after a vulnerable teenager was arrested on the 19th of February for allegedly sharing blasphemous images on Facebook (click here).
Patras Masih is accused of sharing blasphemous images on Facebook. But he says he lost his phone days before the images began to appear.
But not believing him a mob of 3,000 angry Muslims gathered in front of his house, calling for his death. They wanted him to be released to them so they could lynch him. As tempers flared, the mob began threatening to burn Christians alive.
Fearing for the safety of his family and community, Patras was forced to hand himself in to police.
His cousin Sajid Masih was also arrested and his phone confiscated by federal Investigation Officials who then tortured the two boys in their custody.
When it became too much for Sajid Masih to bear and he leapt from a fourth-floor window.