Commanded from mosque loudspeakers, a Muslim throng in Punjab Province killed a Christian couple on 4 November after a coworker accused the pregnant wife of defiling the Qur’an.
Living on the premises of the brick kiln where she worked just southwest of Lahore, Shama Bibi was beaten to death before the enraged mob threw her body into the kiln, a relative said. The 28-year-old mother of four children was five months pregnant. Her husband, Shahzad Masih, was also beaten, but was still alive when he was thrown into the kiln with his wife’s body. He was 32.
Shama was cleaning her quarters when she found amulets of her late father-in-law, who had used them in the practice of black magic. ‘Shama burned the amulets and some other related material, assuming that this was the best way to get rid of “evil stuff” ’, a relative said. ‘She later threw the ashes on a garbage heap outside their quarters when Muhammad Irfan, a Muslim co-worker, noticed some half-burnt pieces of paper from the amulets and raised a clamour, claiming that Shahzad’s family had desecrated Quranic pages’.
