Pakistan

At least 59 people were killed and some 170 were injured when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb inside a crowded mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Monday. Twenty-seven police officers were among those killed.

Pakistan’s lower house of parliament has passed legislation to make the country’s blasphemy laws stricter even as their blatant misuse again came to light in a threat to falsely charge a Christian woman.

His voice shaky, Saleem Masih said his family has been living in fear since Nov. 29, when his son was arrested on false accusations of blasphemy – which can carry the death penalty in Pakistan.

Two Christians accused of blasphemy, including one who has spent four years in jail, have obtained bail from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, sources said.

A two-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday granted bail to a Christian in a blasphemy case, with one of the justices expressing concern over blatant misuse of the law, the attorney of the accused said.

Last week, a judge in Pakistan denied a Christian couple custody of their 12-year-old daughter, who was kidnapped and forced to convert and marry.

A Christian bicycle mechanic in Lahore, Pakistan, was reportedly sentenced to death last week on baseless charges of blasphemy.

Hopes for freedom of two Christian brothers on death row under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws were dashed this month when a court in Pakistan upheld their death sentence despite lack of evidence against them, their lawyers said.

A young Christian in Pakistan has spent more than four years in jail on a false blasphemy charge as courts have delayed processes due to Islamist bias and discrimination against him, his attorney said.