Christian Jailed For Blasphemy In Honey Trap Scheme Impacting Many (Worthy News Investigation)

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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (Worthy News) – A Christian man has become the latest victim of a “honey trap” in which women try to tempt young men into making critical remarks on social media about Islam that are considered blasphemy in Pakistan.

Arslan Gill, 24, was still in a Pakistani prison Wednesday after he was arrested and charged on March 17 by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for allegedly sharing “blasphemous content” in a group of social media outlet Facebook, sources told Worthy News.

Gill, a Christian resident of the Railway Quarters area in Mughal Pura town of Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, isn’t the only person facing prosecution for blasphemy.

“His arrest comes amid a disturbing rise [in recent years] in the exploitation of social media platforms for entrapment, particularly targeting religious minorities such as Christians,” in Pakistan, added Sardar Mushtaq Gill, the founder of advocacy group Lead Ministries.

“These tactics, in which women are allegedly used to exploit men for personal vendettas, have raised serious concerns, particularly against the Christian community in [Pakistan’s] Punjab” province, explained Gill, who is not a family member of the suspect.

Arslan Gill is among hundreds of men facing trials, in many cases after being enticed by women to make derogatory remarks about Islam, Worthy News established.

FIVE SENTENCED

Confirmation about his detention came after a Pakistani court on Tuesday sentenced five men to death for posting blasphemous content online.

All five accused were sentenced to death “for spreading blasphemous content against the holy Prophet,” said a lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, a private group that brought the case to court.

“Separately all were sentenced to life imprisonment for Koran’s desecration and 10 years imprisonment for hurting religious sentiments,” lawyer Rao Abdur Raheem added in published remarks.

The five men — one Afghan and four Pakistanis — were sentenced on Tuesday in Rawalpindi, the garrison city that neighbors the capital, Islamabad.

The sentences will run concurrently, Raheem added, although the convicts have a right to appeal.

It was unclear whether they had been victims of honey traps. However, many women have been active on behalf of vigilante groups and Muslim extremists persecuting Christians and others deemed dangerous to Islam, according to investigators talking to Worthy News.

BLASPHEMY BUSINESS

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) reported that multiple vigilante groups were working in a “dedicated manner” to “witch-hunt” people for online expression or to fabricate blasphemy evidence using social media with “vested agendas.”

“All such groups are formalized by self-declared defenders of majoritarian Islam,” the group said in a report published in 2023. A 2024 report by police in Punjab province, the country’s most populous province, that was leaked to the media concluded that “a suspicious gang was trapping youth in blasphemy cases.”

“The Blasphemy Business” report was sent to the FIA with recommendations to launch a thorough inquiry to determine the source of the vigilante groups’ funding.

However, the FIA denied that their office was acting on the tips of vigilante groups.

The most active private group is the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan (LCBP), which said they are “prosecuting” over 300 cases.

Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi, one of the private investigation group’s leaders, said recently that over a dozen volunteers track online blasphemy, believing that “Allah has chosen them for this noble cause.”

YOUNG WOMEN

After being enticed by young women into sharing thoughts on Islam, their remarks are then shared with a broader audience online and with authorities, Worthy News established.

Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unsubstantiated accusations can incite public outrage and lead to lynchings, observers say.

While they date back to colonial times, Pakistan’s blasphemy legislation was revived in the 1980s when dictator Zia ul-Haq campaigned to “Islamicise” society.

Under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law, any “derogatory remarks” about Islam’s prophet Muhammad “either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo or insinuation, directly or indirectly shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.”

Pastor Imran Amanat, a prominent leader of LEAD Ministries Pakistan, warned Christian youth “to exercise extreme caution” while using social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp.

“These platforms have become fertile grounds for malicious individuals to exploit unsuspecting victims, particularly young Christians, and trap them in false blasphemy cases,” Amanat told Worthy News.

DEEPENING CRISIS

“The arrest of Arslan Gill is a stark reminder of the deepening crisis surrounding the misuse of blasphemy laws in Pakistan, with vulnerable groups, especially Christians, bearing the brunt of these unjust tactics. As the situation escalates, the need for global attention and intervention has never been more critical,” Gill added.

Earlier this year, four individuals were convicted for “disseminating blasphemous content online,” Gill told Worthy News. “The January trial, held before Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Tariq Ayub, led to the sentencing of Rana Usman, Ashfaq Ali, Salman Sajjad, and Wajid Ali, with punishments that included death sentences, lengthy prison terms, and hefty fines.”

While they were all Muslims, they had raised “doubts about the religion” of Islam, recalled LEAD’s Gill, who closely followed the case. “The case highlights the expanding role of the FIA’s Cybercrime Wing in policing online activity, as well as the increasingly severe consequences of violating the nation’s controversial blasphemy laws through digital channels,” he added.

Sardar Mushtaq Gill knows the impact of being persecuted for blasphemy. The Christian advocate told Worthy News he was forced to flee in 2016 after being “falsely accused of blasphemy” for content he “never posted” online.

Gill recalled that he was “wrongfully targeted by extremist individuals” who created a fake Facebook profile under the name “Martha Bibi.” They “posted blasphemous material,” placing him and his family “in harm’s way,” he said.

Gill makes clear he hopes one day Pakistan will one day end the blasphemy crackdown. However, he noted that recent prosecutions “highlight the growing trend of exploiting online platforms to accuse, harass, and persecute individuals, often with little regard for due process or truth.”

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