An 84-year old Christian could face the death penalty after he was accused of blasphemy in Pakistan and had his house seized and turned into a Madrassah.

A human rights group campaigning for his release say Walter Fazal Khan has been charged and imprisoned on suspicion of burning the Quran and insulting the Prophet Mohammed, both crimes punishable by death in Pakistan.

Leaders from the Jamil Mosque, next door to Mr Khan’s property in Lahore, have taken over his house and forced his wife Gladys to convert to Islam.

Nasir Saeed, co-ordinator of the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance & Settlement (Claas), who has been campaigning for Mr Khan’s release said the octogenarian would never be able to return to his home. “The police have warned us not to go into the area so we are not sure what is happening inside the house but Mr Khan will never live there again.”

Under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws a man can face the death penalty if his insult to Islam amounts to apostasy, or turning away from Islam, a woman faces life imprisonment. Since January five Christians have been arrested under the blasphemy laws in the country. Last week Pakistan’s government rejected a bill to amend the law saying the proposals were offensive to Islam.

The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, author of Islam, a Christian Perspective who has worked in Lahore, said Mr Khan’s case was part of a recent “rash of cases” under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. “The laws are often used to settle land and property disputes,” he said. Dr Nazir-Ali added that the number of Madrassahs in the city was increasing, “The government tried to discourage new Madrassahs but they have failed because the religious leadership has refused to play ball," he said.

Mr Khan, a retired government executive, will appeal against his arrest at the city’s magistrates’ court on Saturday. The courts today ruled that his wife’s conversion to Islam was not official because she had not been in full possession of her mental faculties.