Pakistan mob torches Christian homes
Outraged Pakistani Christians took to the streets of Lahore on Sunday, protesting a rash of violence against their community over the weekend, CNN reported.
Demonstrators denounced the burning of more than 100 homes of Christians on Saturday -- a spree spurred by allegations that a Christian man made remarks against the Muslim prophet Mohammed.
Some of the hundreds of protesters Sunday threw stones at police, saying the government failed to adequately protect Christians, Lahore senior police official Rai Tahir said.
Tahir said video footage of the fires helped lead to the arrests of more than 150 attackers. He said charges of terrorism have been filed against the suspects.
The violence that tore through Lahore's Badami Bagh community Saturday followed the arrest of Sawan Masih, a Christian in his 20s accused of blasphemy.
But Masih's arrest wasn't enough to appease an angry mob of Muslims irate over the alleged crime.
"(The) mob wanted police to hand them over the alleged blasphemer," said Hafiz Majid, a senior police official in Badami Bagh.
The mob also looted some shops run by Christians, he said.
Majid said Christians have fled the area for fear of being killed.
If convicted, Masih faces the death penalty.
He denies the allegations made by the two men who filed the blasphemy complaint against him with police on Friday, Majid said.
Masih said the three got into an argument while drinking and that the other two men threatened to publicly accuse him of blasphemy, according to Majid.