Photo: Kross Konnection
On September 8th, Kiran Bibi answered the door to a man who said he noticed pages of the Quran apparently falling from the rooftop of her family's home. When she invited him to investigate this further by going up to the rooftop, they found a bag with loose papers in it. Kiran stated that the bag had been given to her by a Muslim employer to sell to a scrap vendor, and that her children may have unintentionally thrown some of the pages down without realizing their significance.
Despite her explanation, the man filed a police report accusing Kiran and her husband Shaukat of blasphemy, alleging that they had desecrated the Quran. As a result, the Christian couple was taken into custody, leaving their children without parental supervision. For more details, see our previously published report.
On October 18th, the Christian couple appeared before a local court. During the hearing, the defence lawyer argued that neither of the believers were present at the time of the alleged crime, and therefore could not be guilty of committing a deliberate act of desecration. Additionally, it was found that the pages were taken from a grade nine Islamic Studies book, and not from the Quran. As the couple's three young children do not attend school, they could not have torn the pages from the schoolbook.
Since the charges require evidence of willful damage, and there were no witnesses to state that the couple deliberately committed an offence, the judge ruled that the Christians were to be released on bail while a more extensive investigation is conducted.
Thankfully, Kiran and Shaukat have since been able to resume caring for their children. Speaking of their family's time apart, Shaukat expressed, "We have been away from our children for over a month, and each day...in prison was spent thinking what would become of them if we couldn't get out." However, even though these parents have been freed, they do not feel safe returning to the home that was initially provided by their employer.
Praise God that Kiran and Shaukat have been released on bail and are now reunited with their children! Pray that all the charges against them will be dropped so they can remain together as a family and resume their daily lives without the fear of further legal troubles or harassment from members of the community. May the Lord also grant this family a place of safety and provide for all of their needs.
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