Christian Man Arrested on Blasphemy Charge in Pakistan
Police in Lahore, Pakistan arrested Samuel Arif, a 26 year old Christian, on September 11 after a neighbor named Muhammad Umair Alam Khan accused him of intercepting his two minor daughters in the Punjab University Staff Colony, using derogatory religious language, and claiming a vision had told him to marry them. Arif was charged under sections 295 C and 298 A of the Pakistan Penal Code; section 295 C carries a mandatory death sentence. He remains in custody on judicial remand.
Arif's family denies the allegations and says he was falsely framed because of a personal dispute with his neighbor. Attorneys Kashif Alexander Rajput and Nadia Hameed have taken his case with support from the legal aid group HARDS Pakistan. Rights advocates say Pakistan's blasphemy laws are frequently used to settle personal grudges, leaving the accused and their families in danger regardless of how the case is resolved.
