LAHORE, Pakistan – A Christian mother of five was allegedly raped by two Muslim men in mid-September, and area Islamists are threatening to harm her family if charges against the suspects are not dropped, the woman and her husband told Compass.

On Sept. 15, the 32-year-old woman said, she was returning home to Mustafabad, in Punjab Province’s Kasur district, from a garment factory where she works. Two Muslims, identified only as 23-year-old Bhallu and 27-year-old Shera, along with an unidentified accomplice, allegedly abducted her at gunpoint, took her to an abandoned house in the area and raped her, she said.

Working late, she had reached the Mustafabad bus stop at 11:45 p.m. and had begun walking to her home five minutes away; the street was deserted, said the alleged victim, whose name is withheld. more >>

LAHORE, Pakistan – Dr. Tahira Saleem gave up her flourishing medical practice after she realized Pakistan needed a Bible college more than a stethoscope.

Saleem was a leading obstetrician and gynecologist who had a flourishing practice and also worked as a consultant for several private hospitals. She’d grown up with wealthy, talented medical professionals for parents, who were nominal Christians completely absorbed in their careers up until their premature deaths.

She had two brothers, but one day before her lay one dead brother – claimed by a massive heart attack at age 36. Six year later, her only surviving brother, just 30, lay dying before her eyes, gasping for breath after suffering a heart attack. He too breathed his last. more >>

A Christian man accused of blasphemy died in a Pakistani prison on Sept. 9, the International Christian Concern announced Tuesday.

Aslam Masih died of a “treatable disease” after officials denied him proper medical care, ICC reported.

He had reportedly died of Dengue virus, an infectious tropical disease. more >>

LAHORE, Pakistan – Over 800 poor Christians in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore have been forced to live on the roads with no immediate hope of having a shelter of their own after local authorities demolished their homes located in a slum early Saturday morning, with the Christians claiming that they were given just a day’s notice to vacate the land.

Residents of Gaju Matta slum in Ittehad Colony, located along the Rohi Nullah, said they had been living on the land since 1998, when they were forced out of their previous dwelling in the Sabzazar area to make way for a housing society.

The Kachhi Abadi (slums) regulations state that no slum can be demolished without providing alternate housing to the dwellers. Any settlement of over 40 houses built before 2006 qualifies as a Kachhi Abadi, and the Gaju Matta slum fulfilled that criterion with over 150 houses. more >>

Pakistan is facing another natural disaster as almost a month of monsoon rains have killed more than 100 people in the southern region of the country and forced millions to flee their homes.

The southern and eastern provinces of the country are the hardest hit, with entire villages being destroyed.

Local rivers have swelled and water have flooded villages, forcing around 2.2 million people to flee. more >>

A U.S.-operated drone has killed al-Qaida’s second-in-command Atiyah Abd al-Rahman in Pakistan, giving a major blow to the terror network that relied heavily on the deceased leader for its global operations.

Unnamed U.S. and Pakistani officials revealed Saturday that al-Rahman, a 43-year-old Libyan operative, was killed in Machi Khel village in Pakistani’s North Waziristan region on Aug. 22, according to The Associated Press.

The death of al-Rahman, also known as Jamal al-Shitaywi, has been reported for the second time in less than a year. Last October, Pakistan officials told DPA news agency that al-Rahman had been killed in a drone attack in the same region in Pakistan. However, neither U.S. officials nor al-Qaida confirmed the alleged killing then. more >>