Bail petition for man in Pakistan accused of blasphemy filed
It’s a story that sounds like it was ripped from the pages of Shakespeare.
Boy and girl meet. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy and girl decide to get married and get engaged. Family approves. Evil ex-suitor tricks girl into marrying him.
Sajjad Masih. Credit: LEAD Pakistan
The twist in this story is that the boy, Sajjad Masih, 28, is now in jail and charged with blasphemy for allegedly sending text messages that speak ill of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.
According to the Legal Evangelical Advancement Association of Pakistan, the charges against Sajjad, who is a Christian, are bogus.
Javed Sohotra, LEAD Pakistan’s advocate for the case, said he thinks that the text messages were orchestrated by Donald Bhatti.
Bhatti is the husband of the woman, Roma Illyas, to whom Sajjad was engaged.
It is believed that Bhatti wanted to get back at Sajjad for his ongoing cellphone relationship with Roma.
According to evidence that LEAD Pakistan has, Bhatti, a UK resident obtained Roma’s identification card and gave it to a designated person.
While Bhatti was in the UK, the person to whom he gave Roma’s ID card purchased a SIM card using the ID. The person who purchased the SIM card sent the messages.
Because of the evidence LEAD Pakistan has obtained, they have filed a bail petition on behalf of Sajjad.
LEAD Pakistan requests that Christians pray for Sajjad’s safety and acquittal, as well as the safety of Sajjad’s advocate Javed Sohtra.
They are also asking for financial assistance to further the case.
Read the entire brief here on the LEAD website.