A 61-year-old Catholic in Pakistan suffering from advanced dementia died on Wednesday (July 1) after nearly a year in jail awaiting trial on a false blasphemy charge, sources said.
Amir Peter died due to poor medical care days before a court was scheduled to hear medical testimony supporting his bail application, said Katherine Sapna, executive director of the advocacy organization Christians’ True Spirit (CTS).
Peter, of Nishat Colony in Lahore, Punjab Province, had been transferred from Lahore’s District Camp Jail to the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) after his mental and physical condition deteriorated in custody, Sapna said.
He was arrested on July 19 after a Muslim shopkeeper, in retaliation for Peter accusing him of overcharging him, accused him of violating Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which criminalizes derogatory remarks about Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and carries a mandatory death sentence, according to Sapna.
“He had been suffering from advanced dementia, and his health continued to decline throughout his detention,” Sapna told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
A medical board at PIMH determined that Peter was mentally unfit to stand trial. Based on that assessment, CTS lawyers filed a post-arrest bail petition on medical grounds before an additional sessions court presided over by Judge Saad Salman Khan.
“At a hearing on June 29, the judge ordered that the PIMH doctor who examined Peter appear as a court witness at the next hearing,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking that despite all our efforts, he went to be with the Lord before we could secure his freedom from this false accusation.”
Sapna alleged that prison authorities failed to provide Peter with adequate medical care despite his worsening condition.
“This incident once again highlights the devastating consequences of the misuse of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws,” she said, calling for an independent and transparent investigation into Peter’s death. “Those responsible must be held accountable so that such injustices are not repeated.”
The case stemmed from a dispute at a neighborhood grocery store after Peter accused shopkeeper Sanor Ali of overcharging him. According to CTS, the disagreement escalated into a verbal altercation and physical assault on Peter before the blasphemy complaint was filed.
Peter consistently denied making any derogatory remarks about Islam or Muhammad, Sapna previously told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
“He also said police beat him while he was in custody and pressured him to confess to an offense he did not commit, but he refused,” she said.
Sapna also questioned the substance of the First Information Report (FIR), saying it failed to specify any words or statements that allegedly constituted blasphemy.
“The complainant did not identify a single remark that could amount to disrespect toward the prophet Muhammad,” she said. “This dispute could have been resolved by the police without criminal charges, but instead they allegedly tortured an innocent man and imprisoned him.”
Peter’s younger brother, the Rev. Henry Paul, previously told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that Peter had retired four years earlier from a low-ranking position at a government college.
Peter’s death, which Sapna attributed to inadequate and delayed medical treatment, comes months after another Christian accused under the blasphemy laws died shortly after securing his freedom. Pastor Zafar Bhatti, founder of Jesus World Mission Church, died of cardiac arrest on Oct. 5 at his home in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province, just two days after being acquitted following more than 13 years behind bars.
The 62-year-old pastor was released from Adiala District Jail after the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court overturned his conviction on Oct. 2. Bhatti had been arrested in July 2012 after an Islamist cleric accused him of sending text messages deemed insulting to Muhammad. A trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment on May 3, 2017, but the sentence was increased to death in 2022.
The British Asian Christian Association (BACA) said Bhatti had suffered from severe heart disease for several years, compounded by diabetes and other medical complications.
“In 2019, medical assessments indicated he was at significant risk of another heart attack, having already experienced two minor episodes,” BACA said in a statement. “He reportedly suffered another attack in 2020. In 2022, Zafar experienced severe complications, including vomiting blood after receiving medication from the prison medical team, prompting our legal team to appeal for his release on medical grounds.”
By early 2025, prison medical staff had reportedly concluded that Bhatti’s heart function had deteriorated to approximately 15 percent, leaving few treatment options available, the organization said.
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have long been criticized by human rights organizations and legal experts, who say they are routinely exploited to settle personal disputes, seize property and target religious minorities. Although no one has been executed by the state under the country’s blasphemy statutes, accusations have repeatedly triggered mob violence, extrajudicial killings and prolonged pretrial detention for those accused.
International advocacy organizations continue to rank Pakistan among the world’s most difficult countries for Christians. In its 2026 World Watch List, Open Doors ranked Pakistan eighth among the 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution, citing systemic discrimination, mob violence, forced conversions, bonded labor and gender-based abuses. The organization also said weak law enforcement and widespread impunity have enabled perpetrators of anti-Christian violence to escape accountability.
