03/08/2019 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – A false blasphemy accusation against several Christian women in Karachi, Pakistan has forced some 200 Christian families to flee their homes for safety. Fortunately, timely intervention by church leadership and police helped avoid any harm coming to those accused.
On February 19, Samina Riaz, a Muslim woman from the predominantly Christian part of Farooq-e-Azam, a district located in Karachi, falsely accused several Christian women of desecrating a Quran. According to witnesses, Samina went into the streets and started screaming that the “kafirs” had stolen a copy of the Quran and thrown it into a tub.
Local Muslims reacted to this accusation by forming a mob and attacking several Christian properties in Farooq-e-Azam, killing pets and livestock and stoning homes. As a result of the mob attack, some 200 Christian families were forced to flee the neighborhood.
After a police investigation, it was discovered that Samina had falsely accused the Christians of committing blasphemy. According to that investigation, Samina and her husband, Fayaz, had been asked to vacate their rented home by their Christian landlord in January 2019. On the day of the incident, relatives of the landlord came to the house to clean it. When they discovered Samina and Fayaz had not vacated, they again asked the Muslim couple to leave.
That is when Samina accused the landlord’s relatives of committing blasphemy. Samina later confessed that she falsely accused the Christians of committing blasphemy in order “to teach the Christians a lesson”.
False blasphemy accusations in Pakistan are quite common. False accusations are often motivated by personal score settling or religious hatred. Unfortunately, in this case, some 200 Christian families were forced to feel their homes due to the religious hatred of a single individual.
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