Young widow beaten in Pakistan

After being accused of blasphemy, a Christian mother of two was cornered in a field in Pakistan and beaten by a mob. 

Saima Farhad Gill, who is also a widow and lives in a village near Gojra, was saved by police and taken into custody. She was charged under Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws. 

Saima’s neighbors claimed that they had found documents bearing the name of her daughter, Emma, age 9; allegedly among the documents were ripped pages of the Qur’an. An enraged mob blocked the roads.

On August 7th, Saima, who is about 33, was charged under Section 295B of the Pakistan Penal Code, in which the sentence for desecration of the Qur’an is life imprisonment.  

Saima’s maternal uncle is now looking after Emma, as well as Saima’s son, Saviour, age seven.  

Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which supports persecuted and suffering Christians around the world, Father Bonnie Mendes, a prominent Catholic priest in Pakistan, said, “Saima has had a hard life after losing her husband in a road accident in September of 2019. But she has continued with courage, giving her children an education in a private school. Let us pray for her safety and for the safety of her two small children.”  

– John Pontifex