A Christian arrested on a false charge of blasphemy in Pakistan was quickly granted bail in what a source called a “rare” court decision.
Christian Daily International-Morning Star News reports that Maan Shaukat Masih of Nishat Colony in Lahore was granted bail Sept. 8 after voluntarily surrendering himself to police the day prior.
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South Cantt Police had charged him under Section 298 of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws for allegedly committing an act that “hurt the religious feelings of any person,” the publication explains.
Masih is accused of having torn down a banner that bore names deemed sacred in the Muslim religion, the news outlet states.
The accusation occurred after Masih and Christian friends had talked with some Muslims in the street that held the banner and then left the discussion and went home.
Sohail Habil of the HARDS Pakistan legal aid group told Christian Daily-Morning Star that some Muslims allege Masih pulled down the banner and created tension among Muslims.
‘Only by the grace of our Lord’
The day after Masih’s arrest, a judge granted him bail — a move that Habil called “rare.”
“This was made possible only by the grace of our Lord who answered the prayers of Masih’s family and other Christians of the neighborhood,” Habil told the news outlet.
Masih and family have taken refuge in another place, Habil said.
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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