Pakistani Christians attacked by mob over alleged desecration of Koran

A large contingent of police cordoned off the settlement, he said, adding that the crowd had been pushed back and five injured Christians had been taken to hospital.

At least one house and a small shoe factory were set on fire by protesters who had gathered after neighbours alleged that the Muslim holy book, the Koran, had been desecrated by a minority community member, according to a police spokesman and Akmal Bhatti, a Christian leader.

“They burned one house and lynched several Christians,” Bhatti aid.

Videos posted on social media showed protesters looting items from burning properties. Others were seen throwing the items in a heap on fire in a street.

Bhatti said the videos were images from the scene.

The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said the Christian community was “at grave risk to their lives at the hands of the charged mobs”.

Blasphemy is a sensitive subject in conservative Muslim- majority Pakistan, where just an accusation can lead to a street lynching.

While blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, no one has been executed by the state for it, though numerous accused have been lynched by outraged mobs.

A Muslim crowd attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan last year, vandalising several churches and setting scores of houses on fire after accusing two of its members of desecrating the Koran.