LAST UPDATE: 17:22
Pakistani police have arrested two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy, a spokesperson said on Friday, blaming the two men for desecrating the Koran.
Pages of the Koran were found in a street with derogatory comments written on them in red, police said. One attached extra page also carried the names, addresses and national identity card numbers of the accused, the provincial police chief said, as reported by Reuters.
A court ordered the two suspects to be held in police custody for seven days for questioning, a government spokesperson said.
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan but no one has ever been executed.
It is recalled that Muslims in eastern Pakistan went on a rampage on Wednesday over allegations that a Christian man had desecrated the Koran, demolishing the man’s house, burning churches and damaging several other homes, police and local Christians said. There were no reports of casualties.
Paramilitary troops have been guarding the area. Police officers also examined a church vandalised by angry Muslim mob in Jaranwala near Faisalabad, Pakistan.
A Christian graveyard was also desecrated, the community leaders said. They also added that the mob dragged belongings from Christians’ houses and set them on fire in the streets, and took away valuables which they could carry.
“There won’t be any favour. There won’t be any fear,” Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar said on Friday.
Police said they have so far rounded up 128 people involved in the attack on the Christian community in Jaranwala, Faisalabad, on Wednesday.
The attack carried on for more than 10 hours without any intervention by police who were present at the scene, residents and community leaders said. However, police have denied the accusation.
Source: ANA-MPA