Police have arrested at least 50 people in Pakistan, accused of attacking a Hindu temple in the east of the country.
ADVERTISEMENTPolice have arrested at least 50 people in Pakistan, accused of attacking a Hindu temple in the east of the country.
The attack on a temple in the town of Bhong in Punjab province Wednesday followed the alleged desecration of a religious school by a young Hindu boy earlier in the week.
The Hindu boy, 8, had been arrested for urinating on a carpet in a school housing religious texts.
A court ruling granted him bail, a decision which led to the mob attacking the temple.
The mob alleges the boy committed blasphemy, an act punishable by the death sentence in Pakistan.
They burned down the temple’s main door and damaged statues.
Police said they were searching for another 100 suspects.
Muslims and Hindus generally live peacefully in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, but there have been attacks on Hindu temples in recent years.
Most of Pakistan’s minority Hindus migrated to India in 1947 when India was divided by Britain’s government.
Jam Ghaffar, the area police chief, said order was restored after the deployment of extra police and a paramilitary force and police were looking for the remaining suspects.
Ramesh Kumar, a Hindu community leader, said after the attack that the initially slow response from the police had made the situation and the damages to the temple worse.