Pakistan

New Year celebrations for Pakistan’s Christian minority have been overshadowed by the killing of a Christian father of three, the vandalism of a church, and renewed fears that strict Islamic blasphemy laws could fuel further violence against religious minorities.

A 14-year-old Christian girl is recovering after being abducted and raped in Pakistan’s Punjab province, according to family members and police.

The murder of a Pakistani pastor has taken a dramatic turn, with police saying his wife and her alleged lover were the “masterminds” behind the killing, which investigators say was carried out by hired assassins.

A Christian father of three was murdered in Pakistan’s Punjab province by Muslims over the Christmas holiday because of his faith in Christ, confirmed sources told Worthy News on Friday.

With Christmas approaching, a Christian worker and his family have fled a brick kiln in Pakistan where they were effectively held in modern-day slavery by their Muslim employer, amid continuing concerns over the safety of Christian girls in the mainly Islamic nation, investigators told Worthy News.

Pakistani police have released security camera footage allegedly showing the main suspect in Friday’s assassination of Pastor Kamran Salamat, also known as Kamran Naaz, whose death at age 45 has shocked Pakistan’s embattled Christian community.

A funeral was underway in Pakistan on Saturday for a prominent Gospel preacher who was shot and killed in a Friday attack, less than three months after he survived another assassination attempt by suspected Islamic extremists, friends told Worthy News.

A young Christian woman who was allegedly abducted and forced to marry and convert to Islam appeared before a Pakistani court after her parents raised urgent concerns, Christians told Worthy News on Sunday.

Concern remained Sunday over the mistreatment of impoverished Christian laborers in Pakistan, with at least one sanitary worker suffering head injuries after being beaten in recent days by his Muslim supervisors.

Four Christian brick-kiln workers have been abducted in Pakistan’s Punjab province after demanding the payment of their lawful wages from their Muslim employer, investigators told Worthy News Wednesday.