Christian teens charged with blasphemy in Pakistan, could face death penalty

MORNING STAR NEWS

LAHORE, Pakistan — Babar Sandhu Masih was resting after lunch last Thursday afternoon when he heard a commotion outside his house in the Qurban Lines neighborhood of Lahore, Pakistan.

Masih went outside to find his neighbor, policeman Zahid Sohail, beating his son and another Christian boy. His son Adil, 18, and 14-year-old Simon Nadeem Masih, who lives nearby, had been engaged in light-hearted banter when Sohail accused them of committing blasphemy, he said.

“Sohail initially alleged that he was walking past the two boys when he overheard them ‘disrespecting’ prophet Muhammad and then laughing over it,” Masih said. “He started beating Simon, and when Adil tried to save him, Sohail attacked him too.”

Masih, a Catholic who paints cars at a local auto workshop, said neighbors soon gathered, and Sohail repeated his accusations. Continue reading…