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
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.
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Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which were introduced by former military ruler Ziaul Haq in 1980s, allow for the death penalty as the maximum punishment for insulting the religion or the Prophet Mohammed.
Rights activists say laws have been used against the followers of other religions and Muslim faiths that are in a minority in the Sunni-majority country, like Shiite and Ahmadiyya.
Around 90 people accused of blasphemy have been killed since the 1980s by individuals or angry mobs before their trials were concluded in the courts.
