PAKISTAN: Couple Appeals Death Sentence for Alleged Blasphemy

Source: Christian Freedom International, June 24, 2020

Shafqat Emmanuel and his wife Shagufta Kausar are two more victims of Pakistan’s unjust blasphemy laws [which outlaw insulting Islam and its founder, Mohammed]. The young Christian couple was accused of sending blasphemous texts to a Muslim cleric in 2014. They were sentenced to death and have spent six years in separate prisons waiting for Pakistan’s High Court to hear their case. Their appeal has been repeatedly postponed and is now set for September 2020.

The illiterate couple have four young children. Shagufta was the sole breadwinner of the family since 2004 when her husband Shafqat became paralyzed following an accident that fractured his spinal cord.

The alleged texts were written in English. But neither Shafqat or Shagufta speak or read English. An investigation revealed that the couple was involved in an argument with their accuser months before the blasphemy accusation was made against them.

» Read full story and pray for this couple and their children.

» You might also be interested in learning how Pakistani churches are pulling together in COVID-19-related relief efforts (MENA Collective, via Mission Network News).

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