After liking a photograph on Facebook of Kaaba in Mecca, a 16 year old Christian boy was arrested and jailed. Kaaba in Mecca is a holy site of prayer where Muslims across the world come every day, 5 times a day.
The charges came about after a Muslim man who found it offensive informed police according to senior police official Akhtar Ansari. The boy was arrested in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province this week. He was brought up on blasphemy charges which carry a potential death sentence.
The law, enacted by the British, declares it a crime to intrude on burial grounds, disrupt a religious assembly, insult religious belief, or defile and deface an object or dwelling of devotion.
A study by the National Commission for Justice and Peace reported a total of 964 people had been charged under such laws from 1986-2009. Most charged have been of Muslim religion. However, it is believe by critics the law is used to persecute those of unaffiliated religions and minorities.
A Christian couple was killed by a mob of Muslims for allegedly desecrating the Koran in 2015.
The teenage boy remains detained pending trial.
