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Christian farm laborer was beaten to death by the landlord in Pakistan

| Reuters/Mohsin Raza

LAHORE, Pakistan— On Monday, a Muslim landowner in Pakistan beat a Catholic farm laborer to death, claiming he had stolen oranges from his orchard, the victim’s family said.

The killing follows the shooting death of another Christian in the country last month after he stopped Muslims from stealing from his guava crop.

In Punjab province’s Khanewal district, landlord Rana Muhammad Waseem and five others beat Emmanuel Masih, 48, to death early Monday morning as Masih irrigated his employer’s fields in Chak No. 139/10R village, according to the victim’s nephew, Zahid Sahotra.

“My uncle was busy at work when Waseem and the other men approached him and accused him of stealing their citrus,” Sahotra told Morning Star News. “He pled his innocence, but the men lunged at him and beat him mercilessly, resulting in his death.”

The impoverished laborer was the only breadwinner for his wife and six children, Sahotra said.

“He was very hard-working and honest, and police found no evidence from the crime scene that suggested that he had committed any theft,” he said, adding that the 35 Christian families in the village are poor laborers who work for Muslim landowners. “We are destitute and too weak to even think of offending the Muslim villagers.” “They know that we are helpless and that they can get away with anything, even murder.”

He said that though the police had arrested Waseem and two others, getting justice from the courts would be an uphill task.

“We do not have money to engage a good lawyer,” Sahotra said. “The murderers are powerful people, and it’s only a matter of time before they’ll be out on bail by influencing the police investigation.” “The fact that we are Christians makes us more vulnerable to injustice.”

He appealed to church leaders and Christian rights groups to help the family.

“We are in dire need of legal aid and financial assistance to cope with this tragedy,” he said. “Please help us.”

‘No chance at justice’

The killing of Masih was not the first such crime against Pakistan’s vulnerable Christian community, as Islamic extremism and prejudice have gripped the country.

From extrajudicial killings over false allegations of blasphemy to forced conversions and marriages of underage minority girls, Christians face widespread persecution in Pakistan.

Also in Punjab province, in Okara district’s Renala village, a 55-year-old Catholic named Allah Ditta was gunned down by Muslims on Jan. 11 after he objected to their stealing fruit from his orchard, family members said.

The victim’s son, Shahbaz Masih, said that when his father confronted Muhammad Intizar, Muhammad Awais, and one identified only as Usama, the trio allegedly called him a “chumra,” a pejorative label for Christians with “no chance at justice” even if they killed him. Masih said they shot his father in the chest, killing him instantly.

“The murderers threatened me.” “They would kill our family if we informed the police,” Masih told the Morning Star News.

Despite the threats, the family has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the three men at the Renala Khurd Police Station under charges of premeditated murder (Section 302) and “common intention” (Section 34) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Masih said that police had arrested Intizar, while Awais and Usama remain at large.

“Usama’s father is a retired army officer, and he offered us 500,000 rupees (US$1,810) as blood money to drop the charges against his son,” Masih said. “We have rejected his offer because we want justice for our slain father.”

Ditta’s wife, Josephine Bibi, said the family has struggled with day-to-day expenses since her husband was killed.

“We are good Christian people who have always gotten along with our Muslim neighbors,” she told the Morning Star News. “These young men are the vilest creatures who bear immense evil in their hearts.”

Bibi lamented that her husband would never see his children through marriage and other life stages.

“I demand justice for my slain husband; he was killed because he was a Christian,” she said.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the most challenging places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.

Morning Star News originally published this article

Morning Star News is the only independent news service focusing exclusively on the persecution of Christians. The nonprofit’s mission is to provide complete, reliable, and even-handed news to empower those in the free world to help persecuted Christians and encourage persecuted Christians by informing them that they are not alone in their suffering.

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