"Pakistani police say they have arrested up to 40 people in connection with the killing of a Christian couple in Punjab province who were beaten, then pushed into a burning kiln after being accused of desecrating the Quran.
Local police officials said a mob from neighboring villages formed Tuesday after a local mullah
declared the couple were guilty of blasphemy.
The mob allegedly marched to the couple's home, broke down their door, dragged them outside, beat them and threw them into the brick kiln where they both worked.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), "is shocked and saddened beyond words by the callous murder of the couple and their unborn child," the group said.
.....the incident stemmed with a dispute over money the kiln's owners said the couple owed them.
An accusation that the couple had desecrated the Quran "was spread to nearby villages and announcements [were] made through mosque loudspeakers," the HRCP said.
The mob that went to the kiln was estimated at around 500 people, the rights group said, citing local police.
The HRCP said its team learned that four policemen went to the kiln to demand that the couple be handed over for protection from the mob, but that the owners "instructed their employees not to hand the couple over and the policemen were also beaten up."
The kiln's owners were among those arrested, the rights group said, quoting police.
According to the statement, the HRCP team "did not come across any evidence of desecration of the Holy Quran." CNN
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted,
and shall kill you:
and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Matthew 24:9
