Two Christian nurses have been booked underneath blasphemy expenses in Pakistan’s Punjab province following a grievance by hospital authorities, police mentioned, as individuals staged demonstrations towards the duo demanding strict motion towards them. According to police, an FIR has been registered towards the 2 nurses, Mariyum Lal and Newish Arooj, working in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Faisalabad, on Friday on the grievance filed by Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr Mohammad Ali. The nurses are accused of eradicating the stickers inscribed with Islamic verses from the wall of a hospital ward the place psychiatric sufferers are being handled.
Deputy Medical Superintendent Ali claimed that blasphemy expenses have been proved towards the 2 nurses by the hospital committee which probed the matter.
He mentioned the “removed sticker inscribed with Islamic verses” is in the possession of the pinnacle nurse of the hospital.
Hospital staff staged an indication towards the 2 nurses and demanded strict motion towards them. Local Muslim clerics additionally joined the protesters.
In Pakistan, false accusations of blasphemy are widespread and infrequently motivated by private vendettas or spiritual hatred. Accusations are extremely inflammatory and have the potential to spark mob lynching.
Some of the protesters additionally attacked the police van parked contained in the hospital to get the custody of one of many nurses however the police locked her contained in the car to maintain her protected from the mob.
According to a police official, anti-riot police and Elite Force have been referred to as in to deal with the scenario.
As the mob had surrounded the police van demanding handing over the nurse to them, extra drive was referred to as in to push again the protesters. After managing to disperse the mob through the use of a water cannon, police succeeded in transferring the nurse from the hospital premises, the official mentioned, including the opposite nurse had already managed to depart the hospital.
Reacting to the event, the International Christian Concern (ICC) mentioned each the Christian nurses have falsely been accused of committing blasphemy.
It alleged that the pinnacle nurse, Rukhsana, had a grudge towards Mariyum Lal and she or he provoked different Muslim staffers of the hospital, claiming she desecrated wall hangings and a sticker that contained Quranic verses.
In response, a Muslim staffer, Waqas, attacked Ms Lal with a knife as she was attending a affected person in the hospital’s medical ward. She acquired a number of accidents to her arm however survived the assault, it alleged.
Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy legal guidelines and their prescribed punishments are thought of extraordinarily extreme. People accused of blasphemy are normally disadvantaged of the proper to a counsel of their alternative as most attorneys refuse to take up such delicate instances.
The blasphemy legal guidelines are colonial-era laws however they have been amended by former dictator General Ziaul Haq which elevated the severity of prescribed punishments.
Read all of the Latest News and Breaking News right here
