Pakistani couple face Koran desecration charge

Pakistani police have arrested a Hindu couple accused of desecrating the Koran, Islam’s holy book, police said in Peshawar today.

The couple were arrested on Friday in Sawabi, a deeply conservative town in north-western Pakistan, after residents told police they had thrown pages from the Koran around a field. If convicted, they could face a death sentence.

“Yes, a Hindu husband and wife are in our custody and we are interrogating them to determine whether they desecrated the Koran,” local police official Sajjad Khan said.

Shahbaz Bhatti, head of the All Pakistan Minorities’ Alliance, called the allegations against the couple “a pack of lies” and said they had been falsely accused.

He asked the government to set up a judicial commission to probe the case.

Bhatti’s organisation works to protect minority groups in Muslim-majority Pakistan and has been critical of blasphemy laws which, he says, are often applied against minorities.

Under the laws, people accused of insulting Islam, the prophet Mohammed or the Koran can be sentenced to death.