JAMMU: The family of a 26-year-old Christian man in Lahore has rejected allegations of blasphemy because of which he was arrested in August. The family has said that his arrest was baseless as the charges were made because of enmity and have appealed for justice. The young man named Samuel Arif has now been sent into judicial remand.
Samuel Arif, aged 26, was arrested and charged with blasphemy according to a First Information Report (FIR) filed on August 29, less than a fortnight ago. The FIR (806/26) was registered at the Muslim Town Police Station, Lahore, under Sections 295-C and 298-A of the Pakistan Penal Code. The complaint was filed by Muhammad Umair Alam Khan, a resident of Punjab University Staff Colony, according to a report in voicepk.net, a Pakistani portal specialising in reports regarding human rights.
Being charged under these sections pertaining to blasphemy can lead to serious consequences for the accused. The punishment can range from life imprisonment to death sentence and mob lynching becomes a very serious threat in most cases.
Incidentally, it needs to be mentioned here that personal enmity and property disputes have often been found to be the reasons for levelling of blasphemy charges. It is a handy tool often used by the Muslims against non-Muslims who hardly have any effective protection against such inspired allegations.
According to the allegations recorded in the FIR, the incident occurred on August...
JAMMU: The family of a 26-year-old Christian man in Lahore has rejected allegations of blasphemy because of which he was arrested in August. The family has said that his arrest was baseless as the...
