LAHORE: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Sahiwal sent a Christian man on 14-day judicial remand in a case of desecration of Holy Quran.

Okara City A-Division police had registered a case under section 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and 9 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 against Chand alias Chanda Masih on behalf of the state.

According to the FIR, the suspect was hurling threats at his brother and sister to set the Holy Quran on fire over a domestic issue to implicate them in blasphemy. “I will burn the Holy Quran and the Muslims will approach him (his brother) and his family and kill them,” the FIR quotes the suspect as saying.

The police arrested the suspect last Monday and presented him before an ATC in Sahiwal on Tuesday to seek his physical remand to complete the investigation. However, the ATC sent the suspect to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.

Okara District Police Officer (DPO) Tariq Aziz told Dawn that the sister of the suspect had contracted marriage with a relative who had converted to Islam.

The suspect threatened his sister that he would desecrate the Holy Quran and falsely implicate her and her husband in blasphemy if she did not end the marriage.

He said the police arrested the suspect, who confessed to having threatened his sister and her husband with desecration of the Holy Quran and a case was registered against him.

He said the incident took place late on Saturday night, adding that the security of all the churches in the district would be increased during Sunday prayers.

The DPO said that no one would be allowed to take the law into their own hands. He said the suspect had been sent on a 14-day judicial remand by an ATC three days ago.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2024