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Muslim man accused of slapping Bible with shoe arrested in rare Pakistan blasphemy case
- Arrests for insulting Islam are common in Pakistan, but it’s rare that blasphemy laws are invoked for insulting another religion
- The man had been a Christian but had converted to Islam a couple of years ago, said an officer investigating the case
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Police in Pakistan have arrested a Muslim man on blasphemy charges after a video apparently showing him slapping a Bible with a shoe went viral.
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The man, said to be around 50, was arrested in the city of Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad on the weekend and was kept in custody after a court appearance, police officer Mohamed Rizwan said on Monday.
Arrests for insulting Islam or Muslim prophets are common in the Islamic republic, but it is rare that blasphemy laws are invoked for insulting another religion.
I would say it’s very rare, if not unprecedented
“I would say it’s very rare, if not unprecedented,” said Sabookh Syed, a researcher based in Islamabad.
The man had been a Christian but had converted to Islam a couple of years ago, said Rizwan, who is investigating the case.
“He appears to be in a stable mental condition,” he added.
The arrest comes weeks after activists of an Islamic group burned down churches and houses in a Christian neighbourhood in central Pakistan over a blasphemy row.
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