8/20/2024 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) — Earlier this month, an angry Muslim mob tried to kill 32-year-old Saima Masih, a widowed mother of two, after a neighbor accused her of throwing away pages of a Quran.  

After the neighbor confronted Masih, a local Islamic leader announced the accusation over the mosque’s loudspeakers to Gojra, Faisalabad, Punjab residents. The mob reportedly also attacked other Christians in the village, where more than 30 Christian families live. 

Police quickly arrived and controlled the situation. Masih was arrested on Aug. 7 and charged with blasphemy.  

Masih’s neighbor reportedly asked her for a trash bag. The neighbor returned later with other Muslims and accused her of putting the pages of the Quran in the trash bag. If convicted of her blasphemy charge, Masih could face life in prison. 

“According to the Christians living there and other influential people, the accusations are false,” an International Christian Concern (ICC) staffer in Pakistan said.  

Masih works on a polio vaccination team and sells women’s clothing in the evening to provide for her two children, ages 10 and 12. Her husband, a banker, died in a car accident. With Masih in jail, her children are now living with a relative who has gone into hiding.  

ICC is assisting Masih in her court case and helping her relative cover the cost of her children’s education and groceries.  

Masih’s case is just the latest incident of Muslims weaponizing blasphemy allegations against Christians in Pakistan’s Punjab province. In June, a large Muslim mob brutally attacked an elderly man, Nazir Masih, after rumors that he burned pages of a Quran circulated throughout his village. He died nine days later.

A year ago, mobs of angry Muslims attacked several Christian communities in Jaranwala and burned 26 churches and the homes of more than 200 Christian families. The riots started after accusations were made against two teenagers who allegedly desecrated the Quran, forcing many families to flee for their lives.

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