LAHORE – A 24-year-old man desecrated the Bible at the gates of Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church on Lawrence Road on Friday in order to “avenge” extremist US preacher Terry Jones’ desecration of the Holy Quran. Police arrested the man and registered a case against him under section 295-A of the PPC.
Police said Akhtar Hussain, a resident of Kasur, had first tried to force entry into the church, whereupon security guards at the gates stopped him and asked for identification. Hussain told the guards he wanted to burn the Bible in the church and took out the Christian holy book he had hidden inside his clothes and proceeded to tear it apart.
The guards captured Hussain and called the police, who came to the church and arrested him. Civil Lines SP Umer Saeed said Hussain claimed he had acted on his own. Hussain later told investigators that he was “taking revenge” from Jones. He said he had been “very tense” since he heard news of the sacrilege and wanted to do something.
