Pakistan Sentences Five To Death Over Christian Couple's Killing

[TomSea]

Pakistan Sentences Five To Death Over Christian Couple's Killing

A Pakistani antiterrorism court has sentenced five people to death in connection with the killing of a Christian couple by a mob after they were falsely accused of blasphemy.

The couple, Shahzad Masih and Shama Bibi, were beaten and then set on fire by an angry mob at a brick kiln in Punjab Province in 2014.

The rulings represent a rare victory for the much-maligned Christian community in Pakistan, where the authorities have previously been hesitant to clamp down on mob violence for fear of angering powerful Islamist groups.

The antiterrorism court in Lahore on November 23 also sentenced eight other people to two years in prison for their part in the killing. The court also acquitted 93 suspects in the case.

"The five people awarded the death sentence were involved in dragging, beating, and burning the couple, while the other eight played a supportive role, according to the judgement," said Riaz Anjum, the lawyer representing the couple's family.

Continued: http://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-death-setences-for-christian-couple-killing-blasphemy/28135669.html

[TomSea]

The brutal, deadly attack on the couple prompted outrage in Pakistan, shedding light on the plight of Christians, who make up less than 2 percent of the conservative Islamic country's population of 170 million.

Only 2% of the total population, really, there is no excuse for this, yet, we also hear from time to time of Churches being bombed in Pakistan. It is likely that come Christmas, we will hear of these kinds of incidences somewhere.