Catholic groom arrested before wedding in Pakistan for alleged blasphemy
From Catholic Online:
KOTRI, Pakistan (UCAN) – Sattar Masih was having breakfast attired in his wedding suit as his cousins sang and danced, but their merriment was drowned out by a mob shouting against Christians and demanding his arrest.Police handcuffed and dragged the Catholic bridegroom from the wedding house, decorated with colorful lights, in the Christian colony in Kotri, Sindh province. The handcuffs contrasted starkly with the mehndi , a colored paste applied to the groom's hands, and gaana, a bracelet of strings on his wrist.
On that April 13 morning, the former cook at church-run St. Elizabeth Hospital in nearby Hyderabad, 1,040 kilometers (about 645 miles) south of Islamabad, was charged at the police station under two sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.Section 295-A mandates up to 10 years imprisonment for insulting the religious feelings of any group, while section 295-C punishes any remark or action deemed insulting to Prophet Muhammad with death or life imprisonment.
Sattar, 29, was arrested because photocopies of a piece of paper bearing insulting comments about Prophet Muhammad, along with a photo of Sattar and his address, were found in the mailbox of the local Muhammadi Mosque. About 20 local Muslims also found copies of the blasphemous note on their doorsteps.
Mosque leader Maulvi Umer Bakao announced the note at morning prayers on April 13, a Friday, the day Muslims gather at mosques for public prayer.
Sattar was released after some questioning but re-arrested later that day after about 80 Muslims protested at a railway gate. They blocked trains for a few hours and loudly demanded the death penalty for Sattar.
About this blog
Brad A. Greenberg is a God-fearing Christian with devilishly good Jewish looks. He writes about the intersection of faith and life.
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