by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A 50-year-old Christian woman in Punjab Province, Pakistan has been jailed after being charged with committing blasphemy by allegedly burning books containing Islamic scripture, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
The mother of two children, Shazia Younis was arrested by Gojra Saddar police in Toba Tek Singh District, Punjab Province on December 21, MSN reports. She was accused by local mosque leader Atta Ul Mustafa of burning Islamic books outside her home in Chak No. 180-GB Mongi Bangla village. She was then charged under Section 295-B of Pakistan’s widely condemned blasphemy law with insulting Islam. Shazia faces life imprisonment if convicted.
Hardline Islamists have abused Pakistani blasphemy laws to persecute Christians and this exact alleged crime has been brought against believers in the past.
“Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws are often used to target minority groups, but Christians are disproportionately affected,” the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization explains in a 2024 website report. “Indeed, roughly a quarter of all blasphemy accusations target Christians, who only make up 1.8% of the population.”
In a statement to MSN, Gojra-based attorney Haneef Matto said Shazia was sent into judicial custody on the day of her arrest. “According to their neighbors, Shazia’s husband Younis and her two sons, one of whom is married, have gone underground due to security fears. They are a poor family, and Shazia’s husband and sons earn a livelihood as daily wage laborers.”
Ruled by an Islamic regime with harsh blasphemy laws, Pakistan ranks 7 on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
At Qatar’s main international airport in Doha, waiters hurried to open champagne bottles for passengers stranded in a lounge. A Worthy News reporter noticed migrants from many nations and tourists celebrating what they hope will be a more peaceful 2025.
In a significant concession to the nation, French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that he “regrets” his decision to call early parliamentary elections in June.
Faced with battles on the frontlines and in politics, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu left the hospital on Tuesday against the advice of his doctors.
Archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem announced last week that they unearthed a rare 1,700-year-old oil lamp with a clearly defined Jewish Temple Menorah engraving on it, Crosswalk reports.
Finland last week seized an oil tanker that was taking oil to Russia after Finnish authorities suspected the Russian-linked vessel of involvement in “grave sabotage” by severing power and internet cables in the Baltic Sea on Christmas Day, Sky News reports.
Hungary has expressed concern about mounting “Anti-Christian sentiments and the persecution of Christians.”
In a significantly more aggressive approach to dealing with Mexican drug cartels, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum recently sent thousands of troops and heavy weaponry to quell an eruption of intra-cartel violence in Sinaloa state, Reuters reports.