A Christian mother of four children on Wednesday received the death sentence after a judge convicted her under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, her attorney said.
Shagufta Kiran, 40, was convicted under Section 295-C of Pakistan's widely condemned blasphemy laws for insulting Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, which carries a mandatory death sentence. Attorney Rana Abdul Hameed said Additional Session Judge Islamabad Muhammad Afzal Majoka also sentenced Kiran to a fine of 300,000 rupees ($1,077 USD) after her three-year trial.
She was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on July 29, 2021, in Islamabad for allegedly sharing blasphemous content in a WhatsApp group in September 2020. Her husband and two sons were also taken into custody during the raid but were later released.
"The complaint against Kiran was registered by a Muslim named Shiraz Ahmed Farooqi, who alleged that she had shared content disrespectful of Islam's prophet," Hameed told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. "However, Kiran has maintained that she has not authored the content and had forwarded it in the WhatsApp group without reading it."
Formerly a nurse, Kiran had joined several interfaith WhatsApp groups, where she proclaimed the gospel and defended her Christian faith. One such group, Pure Discussions, was administered by the complainant, Farooqi, Muhammad Ameer Faisal of India and Muhammad Jaleel of Canada.
Hameed said Kiran was a brave woman who remained steadfast during the trial.
"I met her after the judge issued the sentence and can confirm that she is very hopeful of a positive outcome from the superior courts," he said. "However, she misses her family a lot and wants to reunite with them as soon as possible."
The attorney said he will file an appeal after the court issues the detailed order. He said the verdict did not come as a surprise as 99 percent of those charged under Section 295-C are convicted by trial courts under pressure from Islamists.
"If you examine all cases of 295-C, the trial courts tend to convict the accused even if the cases against them are very weak," Hameed said. "This is due to the pressure of the religious groups and fears of mob violence. If you analyze all cases of 295-C, you will see that all the convictions of the trial court are overturned by the superior courts."
Nearly 3,000 persons have been accused of blasphemy since 1987, according to the Center for Social Justice (CSJ). The actual scale of abuse of these laws may be three to four times higher, it noted in a report.
It stated that hundreds of accused were incarcerated last year in Pakistan, with 552 detained in prisons in Punjab Province alone. At least 350 persons remained behind bars as of June, according to the report, adding that 103 new persons had been accused of blasphemy this year between January and June.
The report stated that at least seven persons accused of blasphemy have been killed by individuals or mobs across Pakistan since January. A total of 94 people accused of blasphemy were killed in mob attacks between 1994 and 2023.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors' 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.
