Two Pakistani brothers accused of "blaspheming" Islam's prophet Muhammad were gunned down by suspected Islamic extremists on July 19 in Faisalabad, the country's third-largest city.
The brothers, Rashid and Sajid Emmanuel, both Christians, were arrested July 10 for allegedly distributing a pamphlet with "disrespectful material" about Muhammad, according to a BBC report on July 20.
Rashid Emmanuel was the leader of United Ministries Pakistan; its website was not operative on July 21. One source on the Internet described United Ministries Pakistan as encompassing several churches, a school and orphanage, a women's program and other initiatives.
Emmanuel, on a Web profile page, had stated, "We are a group of believers, committed and dedicated to preaching the Word of God and have been helping the poor and downtrodden people of this area for the past 5 years." According to a UPI report, the ministry was located in the Waris Pura slum, encompassing about 100,000 people in the Faisalabad metro area of 5.4 million people.
Emmanuel's brother Sajid was described in news reports as a graduate student and one of the ministry's leaders.
There are conflicting reports whether the brothers were gunned down prior to or after a hearing on the blasphemy charge and whether they were killed inside the courtroom or outside the courthouse. A police official also was critically injured in gunfire leveled by as many as five gunmen, all of whom escaped.
Source: Baptist Press
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