Christian couple kidnapped and converted to Islam: hostage to kill another Christian considered

Sheikhpura (Agenzia Fides) - The aim was to find and kill Amanat Masih, a Christian falsely accused of blasphemy, who was arrested but then released by a court that verified the falsity of the allegations. For this reason a group of Islamic fundamentalist militants, led by an imam, kidnapped Shahzad Masih, 23 years old, Amanat Masih’s son and his wife Rukhsana Bibi, 20 years old. They were kidnapped on October 26 in their native village, Farooqabad, near Sheikhpura, in the province of Punjab. They were beaten and forced to recite Islamic prayers, under death threat. They were held hostage for 10 days, so that Amanat Masih could come out in the open and hand himself over in exchange for the freedom of the young couple. Amanat Masih, in fact - arrested on the basis of the blasphemy law in 2007, but acquitted by the Court of Appeal.