Mukhtar Masih's family say the blasphemy allegation is an attempt to grab their property. (Photo courtesy of the British Pakistani Christian Association)
Police in Pakistan have detained a 70-year-old Christian man on blasphemy charges for allegedly writing letters containing derogatory comments about the Prophet Mohammed and the Quran.
Mukhtar Masih and his entire family were arrested on Jan. 28 in the village of Lambanwali in Punjab province, according to a report by the Christians in Pakistan website.
Local villagers filed a complaint against Mukhtar, Rahwali police station chief Gohar Abbas said.
They accused him of writing the letters, which were received by the local imam on Jan. 26, he said.
Mukhtar could face a 10 year prison sentence if found guilty.
"These charges are completely false; my father is innocent. We tried explaining this to the police but they still arrested us and they beat my elderly father and I, trying to force a confession," Mukhtar's son Anjum Mukhtar told the British Pakistani Christian Association.
He said the handwriting in the letters was not his father's and that he would never cause such an offense as he knew it would endanger his family.
The man's son said the accusation was probably an attempt by people trying to get their hand on the family property. He said the family had received death threats in the past from Muslim men who had offered to buy the land at a very cheap price.
