Pakistan

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- An advocacy group is urging authorities to seriously investigate the gang rape by Muslims of a Christian married deaf-mute woman, after two suspects were acquitted in a similar case.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Pakistan's highest court has suspended the death sentence of Asia Bibi, the Christian mother of five who faces execution by hanging under under the country's controversial blasphemy legislation.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Two Christian brothers remain detained on charges of blasphemy against Islam after one of them was accused of having "disrespectful material" on his website, a senior rights official confirmed to BosNewsLife Monday, July 20. "A case has been registered against Qaisar and Amoon Ayub of Lahore relating to accusations dating back to 2011," said Nasir Saeed, a director of the Pakistan-based advocacy 'Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement' (CLAAS).

By BosNewsLife Asia Service LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christian men have formed a security team to defend churches in Pakistan after several terror attacks killed at least some 100 Christian worshipers within two years.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Pakistan's government wants parliament to amend the country’s blasphemy legislation to end persecution against Christians and other minorities in this Islamic nation. Under a draft bill individuals van only be prosecuted if their deeds were "intentional," officials told Pakistani media.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Pakistan police have detained a cleric accused of leading a mob trying to kill a Christian couple who allegedly desecrated the Koran, deemed a holy book Muslims. Police rescued the Christians from the crowd near the eastern city of Lahore this week in what was seen as a relatively unusual intervention in the heavily Islamic nation, where those accused of blasphemy are sometimes lynched on the spot.

By Martin Roth, BosNewsLife Senior Special Correspondent ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Two Pakistani Christians have launched legal proceedings against the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), after twice being refused permission to board a flight to Sri Lanka on the pretext that they might defect, BosNewsLife learned.

By Martin Roth, BosNewsLife Senior Special Correspondent with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos and Xavier P. Williams reporting from Pakistan LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife) Several people were injured when anti-Christian mob violence broke out again in the Pakistani city of Lahore, the scene of suicide bombings against two churches in March that killed 17 worshippers. Christians in the area told BosNewsLife that angry Muslims, some armed, opened fire, ransacked churches, destroyed homes and attacked residents. Many Christians were reportedly fleeing the area.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Pakistani court has charged 106 suspects with involvement in last year's lynching and burning to death of a Christian couple in an incident that underscored wider persecution of believers in the heavily Islamic nation, BosNewsLife learned Thursday, May 21.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Suspected Islamic militants opened fire on a Catholic school in Pakistan's city of Lahore Friday, April 17, injuring a Christian student and two security guards, church sources and rights activists said.