Mentally ill Christian charged with ‘blasphemy’ in Pakistan

CHICHAWATNI, Pakistan — Police in Chichawatni, Sahiwal district have charged a mentally ill Christian with “injuring religious feelings” under Pakistan’s widely condemned blasphemy laws. Three families related to 25-year-old Babar Masih — the only other Christian families in the area — have fled their homes after a Muslim mob threatened to harm them, relatives of the accused said. Police in Chichawatni, Punjab province registered the blasphemy case against Masih on May 2 after arresting him at about 10 p.m. that night; the man’s own family handed him over to police because a large number of Muslim clerics had gathered outside their house and demanded that he be turned over to them so that they could “do justice” by killing him, relatives said.

His brother, Amjad Masih, said that Masih has suffered a mental illness for the past six or seven years typified by fits of unprovoked rage, abusive language and lack of concern for food and clothing. Masih was charged under Section 298 of Pakistan’s blasphemy statues for “uttering words … with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings” and Section 298-A for “use of derogatory remarks … in respect of holy personages.”