Five Christians murdered in a week under Pakistan's blasphemy law

1 December, 2010

Pakistan (MNN) ― Muslim extremists are blamed for the murders of five Christians in Pakistan in less than a week.

Greg Musselman, spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says 22-year-old Latif Masih was shot to death shortly after he was granted bail in a "blasphemy" case. He was accused in early November under Law 295c -- the infamous "Blasphemy Law" in which the two militants claimed he burnt pages of the Qur'an.

On November 18, Masih's accusers caught up with him and shot him to death near his home in Godhpur, village 111 kilometers (69 miles) northeast of Lahore. Days earlier, on November 12 in southern Punjab Province, police say Lashkar-e-Taiba militants killed four family members because of their Christian faith. the rest

The marked increase in these cases has created a renewed call by human rights watchdog groups for an end to the blasphemy law.

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