ICC Note: The 23-year-old Nadeem James and his family have fled their home and gone into hiding in an attempt to escape further violence. Ever since Nadeem was accused of sending a blasphemous text message, he and his family have faced persecution – even at the hands of government officials. In Pakistan, many of the blasphemy accusations are false and are motivated by causes such as personal gain or hatred toward religious minorities. Blasphemy law violations often warrant the death penalty.

7/18/2016 Pakistan (World Watch Monitor) – A Pakistani Christian and his family have fled their home in the religiously conservative city of Gujrat, after he was accused of committing blasphemy by sending an offensive message via mobile-phone text.

Nadeem James, 23, from the Yaqoobabad area of the city, and his family are on the run after a friend of the family, Yasir Bashir, 30, went to the police on Sunday (10 July), saying that James had sent him a blasphemous poem, which was against Islam and its prophet, using the WhatsApp texting service.

One of James’s brothers, Faryad, told World Watch Monitor that police then “forcibly took away and beat” two of Nadeem’s sisters-in-law, including one who has an 18-month-old son, in order to pressure them to provide information of James’s whereabouts. However, the police told local newspapers that the two women were being kept in “protective custody” and would be released if any organisation took responsibility for their safety.

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