The murder of a Christian couple in Pakistan, along with their unborn child, is likely to go unpunished, following a Supreme Court decision to release three men who had been sentenced to death.
Shahzad Masih and Shama Bibi were murdered in November 2014. The couple were accused of desecrating pages of the Quran, prompting a mob to beat them before throwing them into a hot brick kiln.
Following the incident hundreds of villagers were arrested, however the vast majority were set free.
However, in 2016 an Anti-Terrorism Court sentenced five men to death for their alleged role in the murders, while nine others were given short jail terms. An appeal lead to the Lahore High Court overturning the convictions against two of those sentenced to death and now the Supreme Court has effectively done the same for the remaining three.
The Supreme Court also rejected a request from the Punjab government to retry over 100 suspects who had previously been released.
The core issue is the inability of the courts to successfully determine which specific actions were taken during the attack by which specific individuals.
According to International Christian Concern (ICC), the chaos and confusion caused by a mob is not the only reason no one will be held to account for the murders. The anti-persecution group has reported on direct threats of violence within the community against potential witnesses, many of whom later gave inconsistent testimonies.
ICC said, “With this decision, along with the dismissal of a state appeal against the acquittal of 102 other suspects, no one remains convicted or in prison for the attack.”
The group added, “Leaders from the churches stated that the verdict highlights deep flaws in how mob violence cases are investigated and prosecuted. Rights advocates continue to urge the government to improve witness protection, reform police procedures, and create laws that hold violent mobs accountable.”
