LAHORE, Pakistan — Muslim landowners in Pakistan kidnapped a Christian laborer, shaved his head and facial hair, blackened his face and paraded him on the again of a donkey for allegedly stealing wooden from their property, his brother stated.
On the idea that impoverished Catholics in Muslim-majority Pakistan have little probability of acquiring authorized protection, at the very least seven Muslims attacked Wasif George, 34, of village Chak 110-GB Chak Jhumra in Faisalabad District, Punjab Province, after he had gone to collect wooden the night of Feb. 27, stated his brother, Patras George.
Wasif George has since plunged into melancholy, telling his household that he wished to finish his life, his brother stated.
Get Our Newest Information for FREE
Subscribe to get each day/weekly electronic mail with the highest tales (plus particular provides!) from The Christian Put up. Be the primary to know.
“If he had certainly dedicated any incorrect act, the landowners may have had him arrested and charged beneath the legislation,” Patras George instructed Christian Each day Worldwide-Morning Star Information. “However they as a substitute used this as a chance to unfold worry within the village.”
Wasif George had simply returned residence from work as a day laborer when his mom requested him to get some wooden to arrange dinner, his brother stated. Amongst those that attacked him had been Junaid Javed, Tetar Ul Haq, Jahanzeb Javed and Naeem Saleem, stated Patras George, including that his brother wasn’t stealing wooden however solely gathering useless branches fallen from bushes on the assailants’ property.
“My brother was gathering wooden alongside the banks of a canal when the assailants got here there and accused him of theft,” he stated. “They dragged Wasif to a poultry farm owned by Junaid Javed the place they not solely tortured [by beating] him but additionally received his head and facial hair shaved by a barber, Razzaq.”
The assailants blackened his face, pressured him to sit down on a donkey and paraded him round within the village, he stated.
“All the village lined up on the streets and witnessed the inhumane therapy meted out to my brother,” he stated. “Nobody had the braveness to cease his persecutors as they brandished weapons and threatened to shoot any one that dared to rescue the Christian.”
The assailants warned the villagers in opposition to recording movies of the abuse, and nobody dared take out their telephones, he stated.
Patras George stated that he had gone to mattress early that night as he wasn’t feeling effectively and had turned off the ringer of his cellphone when kin arrived and requested his spouse to wake him.
“I used to be shocked once I heard what was occurring to my brother,” he stated. “I began working in direction of the village middle, making frantic requires assist to the police helpline from my cellphone within the meantime.”
When he arrived, he discovered his brother surrounded by villagers, and the assailants had fled.
“I can not describe the ache of seeing my youthful brother in that situation,” Patras George stated, sobbing. “He simply stood there, his head hung low, his eyes glazed with the ache of a soul shattered by the load of humiliation.”
He stated Wasif George’s spouse and different relations stay at his aspect regularly, fearing he may hurt himself.
“Wasif has turned suicidal after this public humiliation as the load of public disgrace has damaged the person inside him,” he stated.
Patras George stated {that a} police staff finally arrived.
“After studying what had occurred, they went to the properties of the perpetrators however took solely the barber and a brother of the proprietor of the poultry farm into custody,” he stated. “Not one of the primary accused had been arrested regardless of our pleas.”
The accused are influential landowners with legal historical past and have pleasant relations with native police, he stated.
“Although police have registered a First Info Report [FIR], the accused have obtained pre-arrest bails and are actually pressuring us to reconcile with them,” he stated. “The police’s bias is obvious from the truth that it has been every week because the case was registered, however we haven’t as soon as been referred to as to the police station to report our statements.”
About 25 to 30 Christian households reside within the village, all laborers of standing too low to take a stand in opposition to highly effective Muslim landlords, he stated, asserting that their Christian religion was additionally a purpose for denying them justice.
“None of our Christian spiritual or political leaders have proven any concern towards our plight,” Patras George stated. “They’re simply busy working after cash and titles and have no real interest in combating for our rights and justice.”
Pakistan Masiha Millat Celebration Chairman Aslam Sahotra instructed Christian Each day Worldwide-Morning Star Information that they had been standing by the George household and would proceed to make efforts to deliver justice.
“The humiliation Wasif has suffered is extra than simply the general public shaming — it’s the destruction of his Christian id and the tearing down of his sense of self,” Sahotra stated.
He stated he regretted the silence of the villagers concerning the assault, saying their worry had emboldened the assailants to focus on any particular person with impunity.
“The police’s inaction additionally amplifies the hurdles to justice for the susceptible and marginalized individuals in Pakistan,” he stated. “The Punjab chief minister and senior police officers should take discover of this barbaric act and help the sufferer’s household of their pursuit for justice and due punishment to the perpetrators of this heinous crime.”
Pakistan is ranked No. 8 on Open Doorways’ 2025 World Watch Checklist of nations the place it is most troublesome to dwell as a Christian.
This text was initially revealed Christian Each day Worldwide–Morning Star Information
