Christian women are under pressure in Pakistan amid blasphemy allegations and abuse, rights groups say.
By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)– A Christian woman who potentially faced the death penalty in Pakistan for blasphemy against Islam has been moved to Sri Lanka with her husband and daughter, an official told BosNewsLife, just hours after Canada admitted it had rescued another prosecuted, mentally challenged, Christian girl.
“Martha Bibi, 47, and her Christian husband Boota Masih have arrived in Sri Lanka with their daughter. Two other daughters and three sons, will come soon as well,” said the official. “They will apply for refugee status with (UN refugee agency) UNHCR, as this is the procedure,” he added. “After that they will go to Canada or the United States.”
The source, who was actively involved in the rescue operation, spoke on condition of anonymity amid security concerns including possible attacks by Islamic militants. In a seperate statement the independent ‘Rescue Christians’ group, which has close contacts with prosecuted Christians in Pakistan, said it had provided aid to the family.
The “persecution” of Bibi and her husband, who are entrepreneurs, began after she asked those leasing their building equipment in January 2007 to pay an outstanding bill, according to Christians familiar with the case. Those supporting her case claim she was left empty-handed and “smeared as a blasphemer, terrorized, and ultimately arrested” after she got into a fierce argument with a shop-owner near the mosque.
Though she allegedly did not mention religion in the heated exchange, the woman she argued with told her husband, identified publicly as Mohammad Ramzan, that Bibi “blasphemed” Islam’s prophet Mohammed.