Pakistan
A 40-year-old Christian, Gulshare Masih, and his 19-year-old daughter Sandal from the village of Gojra near Faisalabad, were taken into police custody recently after an enraged Muslim mob falsely accused them of desecrating the Koran. About 500 Muslims, including students from a local madrassa (Islamic school), gathered around Gulshare’s house, throwing stones and bricks and breaking windows and the front door.
Then they apparently decided to set fire to the whole Christian area so that no Christian would be left to desecrate the Koran. At that point police arrived, who managed to appease the Muslims by saying that they would ‘severely punish the blasphemers’.
The police then took Gulshare and Sandal into protective custody. Gulshare’s wife and his other children went into hiding at a relative’s place.
