On Tuesday, a young Christian couple Shama and Shahzad in Kot Radha Kishan were beaten to a pulp by hundreds of villagers and thrown into a burning kiln. Shama was accused of desecrating the Holy Quran; she was pregnant at the time. Initial investigations reveal that there was a money dispute, as is usually the case when it comes to false blasphemy charges. Kasur police has registered a case against 600 villagers. This gory incident is a grim reminder of how religion is used to justify mob violence. The Prime Minister and Punjab Chief Minister have said that the killers will be brought to justice, but one cannot hope for justice in a country where men accused of blasphemy are killed in jail by police officers themselves.

Pakistani Christians gather and pray for a murdered Christian couple in Kot Radha Kishan on November 5. An enraged Muslim mob beat a Christian couple to death in Pakistan and burnt their bodies in the brick kiln where they worked, for allegedly desecrating a Quran, police said. Pic/Getty Images