Fatemeh Mohammadi, 20, was assaulted on a bus by another passenger who accused her of not wearing her headscarf properly, according to an eyewitness. The woman then attacked her by pushing her chest and hitting her in the face.

When Ms Mohammadi went to the police station to file a complaint against the woman, the police arrested her, thinking it was reasonable to assault her on this basis and let her assailant go free.

Fatemeh Mohammadi was eventually released on bail in the early hours of the following morning, according to religious freedom charity Open Doors.

Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland, told Premier: “Iran is an Islamic republic where they are increasingly clamping down on Christianity where they see it as western influence. Obviously, according to sharia law, a woman should have her hair completely covered by a headscarf. We know that in Iran there is increasing bias and discrimination against Christians, so that’s why this woman went for Fatemeh.

“We know Fatemeh is a strong Christian and in fact she’d already served a six month prison sentence last year after she was arrested in a house church meeting, so the authorities are clamping down harder and harder in Iran – house churches are being raided and leaders are being given long prison sentences. Fatemeh was charged last year for Christian activity and membership in proselytising…

Shohfah-El Israel is alleged to have killed 20-year-old Joy Morgan in December.

The University of Hertfordshire student has not been seen since Boxing Day and a body has never been recovered, Reading Crown Court has heard.

Ms Morgan and the defendant, of Cricklewood, north London, were members of the Israel United in Christ church in Ilford, east London – which, the trial heard, has rules including a ban on pre-marital sex and women not being alone in the company of men other than their husbands.

Israel, whose birth name is Ajibola Shogbamimu, has been described by the prosecution as a “thoroughly dishonest and manipulative” man who lied about Ms Morgan staying at his flat for two nights after a church celebration dinner.

He eventually told officers he dropped her off at her Hatfield accommodation on December 28, claiming he initially failed to tell the truth because he was worried about having broken church rules by having a woman who was not his wife staying alone with him.

Ms Morgan regularly took lifts to church with Israel and his wife and he said she was considered “100% part of the family”.

Giving evidence, he said he allowed her to stay at his flat because she was “upset” and that she revealed to him she was “leaving the church”.

He dismissed any suggestion he had sex with her, saying she had slept on a sofa bed and he “did not see her that way at…

Following a visit to Sri Lanka to stand in solidarity with Christians and victims of the Easter bombings, Justin Welby will be travelling to India on the 31st August to visit Kottayam, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Medak, Jabalpur, Kolkata and Amritsar.

The main focus of Mr Welby’s visit will be to listen to the concerns of local Christians across the Church and provide pastoral encouragement and prayer as he visits believers and outreach projects serving diverse communities across the country.

Among his engagements, Mr Welby will visit Jabalpur in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh ‘to learn about a minority Christian community that is a force for good in wider society”, as he attends the opening of a Christian-run rural school.

Mr Welby is also expected to visit the Henry Martin Institute in Hyderabad – a specialist centre for inter-religious studies, to deliver an address on Christian prayer to religious leaders from Hindu, Muslim, Sikh backgrounds, together with various Christian denominations, to encourage discussion on religious diversity and the benefits of learning together.

A pilgrimage to the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre – where thousands of unarmed Indians were shot by British troops, has also been planned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

According to Lambeth Palace, Justin Welby is the first Archbishop to visit the…

Father Michael Higginbottom targeted two children separately while they boarded at St Joseph’s College, a school for students aged 12 to 18 in Upholland, Lancashire.

During a two-week trial at Burnley Crown Court, jurors heard that he “regularly, systematically and horrifically” abused the boys, with prosecutor David Temkin saying: “They were both threatened with violence and both were struck with a strap or a belt.”

After being convicted of five counts of buggery and seven of indecent assault, 76-year-old Higginbottom was jailed for 18 years, half in prison and half on licence.

Judge Andrew Woolman, sentencing Higginbottom on Tuesday, told him: “You were in the highest position of trust in relation to these boys, who you abused in a quite appalling way.

“I have no doubt that you specifically targeted these boys.

“These acts were accompanied, time after time, by threats or actual violence under the guise of a normal school punishment.”

Higginbottom was originally found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court in April 2017 of offences relating to the first complainant, but these convictions were quashed in November last year by the Court of Appeal.

It was ruled then that a retrial would be necessary as jurors had not been given full details of the complainant’s conviction for fraud by false representation, which were not available at the time of the original trial.

The…