Protests erupt in Pak over Christian man's alleged blasphemy

Scores of activists of religious parties surrounded a Christian colony in Lahore, demanding the arrest of a Christian man who allegedly posted blasphemous content on the social media.

According to local media reports, the mob demanded Masih be handed over to them, called for beheading of the boy and threatened to burn Christian homes if the boy wasn't handed over.

Many Christian families have fled the area fearing for their lives, the reports said.

The activists of Tehreek-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA) and other religious parties gathered in Shahdara area in Lahore and surrounded the Christian families living there.

Pakistan journalist Naila Inayat took to Twitter and said that the boy's father has been arrested.

"In Lahore, 17-year-old Christian boy #PatrasMasih is accused of #blasphemy on social media by a local cleric. An angry mob led by Tehreek-e-Labaiak gathered outside Masih's house in Shahdara. Police lodged FIR under 295-C and the boy's father Indreas was arrested yesterday," Naila tweeted.

A 17-year-old Pakistani Christian boy has been accused of posting blasphemous content on social media.

Patras Masih, a resident of Lahore's Shahdara reportedly managed a group on the social network Facebook, where he had loaded blasphemous contents, which apparently hurt the religious feelings of Muslims.

In his defence, Masih stated that a couple of days ago he had lost his cell phone and that someone else published the content which is considered blasphemous.

A report about the incident on a website called 'Christians in Pakistan', with a tagline 'Voice of Pakistani Christians', said - "Patras Masih lost his cell phone a few days earlier and someone post blasphemous content on his Facebook account."

However, we have not been able to verify the claim independently.

Pakistan ranks as the fifth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA's 2018 World Watch List.

According to the report, not only is blasphemy a crime punishable by death under the Pakistan penal code, blasphemy allegations have in the past led to Pakistani Christians being killed by enraged Muslim mobs.

--ANI