Christians Under Attack

As recently as Tuesday, a Christian man in the northern Pakistani city of Rawalpindi died after he was set alight by a Muslim mob and his wife was allegedly gang raped in front of their three children.

Muslim hardliners set 38-year-old Pakistani Christian Arshed Masih on fire after he refused to convert to Islam. He received burns to 80 percent of body.

His Christian wife Martha Masih, 33, was believed to have been raped, possibly by three police officers, in the police station where the couple was held for questioning last Friday.

Protests broke out on news of Masih's death. Several Christian advocacy groups held a demonstration on Tuesday against police in Rawalpindi, which is in Punjab province.

Asih and his family had reportedly been evicted from their service accommodation at the home of an influential local businessman Sheikh Mohammad Sultan.

Sultan, who had since 2005 employed Asih as a driver and his wife as a domestic servant, had pressured the couple to convert to Islam, as had local religious leaders.

Asif's murder and his wife's alleged rape followed several reports of attacks against Christians in Pakistan by Islamic militants, including fighters linked to the Al-Qaida and Taliban groups.

Earlier this month, militants stormed the offices of a US Christian aid group in the remote northwestern town of Oghi, killing six Pakistanis including two women and injuring five, police said.

Christians make up less than five percent of the country's mainly Muslim population of 175 million people.