Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar blasphemy case
Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar are a Pakistani Christian couple who in 2014 were convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court, receiving a sentence of death by hanging. In 2021, the convictions were overturned. The couple. Married couple Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar were living in poverty with their four children in a mission compound of Gojra Church in Toba Tek Singh District in Punjab, Pakistan. Kausar was the only working person in the family. Emmanuel was confined to a wheelchair, due to an accident in 2004 that resulted him in suffering a  spinal injury, causing him to be paralyzed below the chest. Prosecution. In July 2013, Emmanuel and Kausar were arrested for sending a text message that was deemed blasphemous against the Islamic prophet Muhammad. On 4 April 2014, the illiterate couple were given death sentences for sending the message in English. Despite the couple being illiterate, the additional session judge of Toba Tek Singh sentenced them death on 4 April 2014. They are the first Pakistani couple to have been given the death sentence for blasphemy. The couple said that the complainants’ lawyers kept proclaiming Koranic references that called for death  to blasphemers. Even the prosecuting attorneys told the judge that if he will not give them death sentence, they would be ready to become "ghazi" (Muslim warriors), like Ilm-ud-din and Mumtaz Qadri. Due to the high risk to the couple's security, the whole trial was concluded inside the boundary walls of the prison. Farrukh Saif Foundation and their Partner Emergency Rescue Committee are defending the couple since 2013 and have filed the appeal in the Apex Court against the death sentence. Appeal against the death sentence. On 8 April 2014, the Farrukh Saif Foundation filed appeal against  the death sentence of Emmanuel and Kausar. On 3 June 2021, the Lahore High Court overturned the convictions due to lack of evidence.