The mother of a small child has been granted bail after being jailed 17 months on false charges.
On Nov. 6, Lahore High Court ordered that Stella Khawar, a 29-year-old Christian, be released on bail in the two accusations of blasphemy for which she was jailed. Christian attorney Lazar Allah Rakha told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that Khawar — the mother of a 5-year-old son — was ordered to be released for lack of evidence.
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Rakha said Khawar’s family, who is poor, was working to secure sureties for her bail.
Khawar was arrested May 12, 2024, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, the news outlet noted. She was charged under Section 295-A of the blasphemy laws (“hurting religious sentiments”) and Section 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code (“intentionally causing fear in the public and harming public tranquility”).
A leader of the extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan had accused Khawar in incidents that supposedly occurred Aug. 27, 2023, and Jan. 7, 2024. Rakha told Christian Daily-Morning Star that Khawar was accused of throwing currency notes that allegedly bore blasphemous writings onto a street.
World Watch
Pakistan is No. 8 on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the 50 places most difficult to be a Christian.
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