02/25/2021 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics minister, Ijaz Shah, came under fire over the weekend over outlandish comments […]
Court in Pakistan Orders Abducted Christian Teen to Rejoin Her Family
02/18/2021 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – On February 16, a Sessions Court in Pakistan ordered that Farah Shaheen, a 13-year-old Christian girl, rejoin her family after being abducted and forcefully married to a 45-year-old Muslim man. The decision brings to a close an eight-month legal battle over the custody of the Christian teen.
Shaheen’s parents reported to police that three Muslims, including 45-year-old Khizar Hayat, abducted Shaheen from their home on June 25. After the abduction, Shaheen’s parents claim their daughter was forcefully married to Hayat and converted to Islam.
On December 5, 2020, Shaheen was recovered by police from the home of Hayat. Human rights activists reported Shaheen had marks of abuse on her body and was transferred to a shelter home by local courts.
02/17/2021 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – Year after year, Pakistan is ranked among the world’s worst persecutors of Christians. Amid all the reports of persecution, whether it be cases of forced conversion or communal violence, it’s easy to miss positive developments coming out of the country. However, late last year, something positive did happen. A Christian man sentenced to death for allegedly committing blasphemy was acquitted and freed.
On October 6, 2020, the Lahore High Court rendered its final decision in the blasphemy case against Sawan Masih. The judicial bench, headed by Justice Syed Shehbaz Ali Rizvi, acquitted Sawan of the blasphemy charges he was sentenced to in 2014. Those charges would have resulted in Sawan’s death if he had not been freed. After more than seven years in prison, six of which were spent on death row, Sawan was finally allowed to go free.
Killers of Christian in Pakistan Released on Permanent Bail
02/14/2021 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – According to Morning Star News, two men suspected of torturing a Christian man to death have been permanently freed on bail in Pakistan. Relatives of the victim claim police are working on behalf of the killers to cripple their effort to get justice.
On February 25, 2020, Saleem Masih, a 22-year-old Christian, was working as a day laborer in an agricultural field owned by Sher Dogar in Bhagiyana village. Early in the morning, after Saleem finished unloading chaff in the fields, he rinsed himself off in a nearby tube-well. When Dogar and other Muslims saw what Saleem was doing, they rushed over, pulled Saleem out of the water, and began to beat him.