Property Dispute Erupts into Mob Violence, Displacing 200 Christian Families
02/25/2019 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that four Christian women from the Farooq-e-Azam neighborhood of Karachi, Pakistan were falsely accused of blasphemy on February 19, 2019. Following the false accusation, a mob of enraged Muslims attacked the Christian-majority neighborhood, leading to the displacement of approximately 200 Christian families.
The incident began in January 2019, when Fayaz and Samina Riaz, a Muslim couple, were asked to vacate their rented house by their Christian landlord, Amjad Dildar. According to local Christians, the Muslim couple had been “causing trouble among the Christian families in the community” and were asked to leave.
On Tuesday, February 19, Samina Riaz accused four Christian women, including three of her landlord’s daughters, of desecrating a Quran. According to Aslam Masih, a local eyewitness, “Samina Riaz alleged Sunaina Amjad, age 22, Sophia Amjad, age 18, Soneha Amjad, age 14, and Sophia Qamar, age 30, [of] desecrating a Holy Quran. She claimed they stole a copy of the Quran and ruined it by submerging it into a basin of dirty water.”
As news of the accusation spread, a mob of enraged Muslims gathered in Farooq-e-Azam and attacked several Christian properties, including Amjad Dildar’s house and a nearby church. The mob killed pets, livestock, and damaged several Christian homes by stoning them.