A mob in Pakistan killed a Christian couple accused of desecrating the Quran and burned them in a kiln, according to reports.
Up to 45 Muslims have been arrested and accused of beating the couple, Shama Bibi and her husband Shahbaz Masih.
The couple worked at a brick factory in the village of Kot Radha Kishan in the Punjab province. They were held in a room at the factory after a dispute with the owner over a debt they owed him and
accused of burning pages of the Quran, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"At the moment, we know that allegedly pages of the Quran were burned, and that enraged villagers killed them," police official Bin Yameen said, according to the Wall Street Journal, adding that an investigation is ongoing.
Local residents said the couple was
still alive when they were put in the kiln by the mob, NPR reported.
"Falsely accusing Christians of blasphemy has become a routine," activist Joseph Francis said, according to NPR. "No false accuser has ever been punished. Such impunity has led to a surge of such incidents."
Some media reports vary about the details of the killing, with
CNN reporting that the Pakistan mob allegedly attacked the couple at their home, breaking down their door and dragging them outside.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said the couple had three young children, and the woman was pregnant, CNN reported.
Blasphemy is punishable by death under Pakistan's controversial anti-blasphemy law. Human rights groups say the law often is misused to settle personal vendettas.
Police who tried to intervene to protect the couple were overwhelmed by the mob.
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