In Pakistan, Muslims torture a Catholic to death

A Pakistani at the entrance of a Presbyterian church in Punjab Province. Photo: christianpost.com

In the Pakistani province of Punjab, a group of Muslims, including a former police officer, tortured a Catholic to death, reports the resource christianpost.com.

The deceased is 35-year-old Kashif Masih, a Catholic from the village of Jamkay Cheema (Sialkot District). He worked for three years on the agricultural land of former police inspector Malik Irfan.

According to his brother Riyasat Masih, on May 13 at around 2:30 AM, two of Irfan's relatives, Areeb Babar and Ijaz Ikramullah, forced their way into the house where the brothers lived and accused Kashif of stealing a phone. They conducted a search but found nothing. It later turned out that Kashif had been detained by them the evening of May 11.

In the morning, neighbors reported that Kashif's body had been thrown onto the street. He was alive but bleeding and had been brutally beaten. Relatives immediately took him home, but he died from his injuries.

Before his death, Kashif recounted that Irfan had called him, accused him of stealing a phone, and ordered his seven henchmen – including Areeb and Ijaz – to beat a confession out of him.

He was beaten with batons and metal rods all over his body. An autopsy revealed that steel nails had been driven into Kashif's legs.

“I cannot express the pain I felt when I saw the mutilated body of my younger brother,” said Riyasat Masih. “He died at the hands of an influential employer whom he served faithfully for three years.”

According to Riyasat, the police initially refused to register the case because the main suspect was a former police officer. However, after protests from Christians and pressure from the community, a criminal case was opened, and Irfan was arrested.

Areeb and Ijaz, in turn, received pre-trial release on bail, while the other participants in the crime have not yet been detained.

“We are a large family, seven brothers and two sisters. Kashif was the fifth. After our father's death, we all work to support our families. Our elderly mother is devastated,” Riyasat added.

He noted that the murder allegedly over a phone seems implausible: “If they really believed that Kashif had stolen something, they could have gone to the police. But they chose torture and execution. I feel there is something else behind this.”

Local Christians expressed support for the family, raising funds for legal assistance and helping to seek justice.

The murder of Kashif Masih is not an isolated incident. On February 27, Muslims in another part of Punjab captured a Christian named Wasif George, shaved his head and face, smeared him with soot, and paraded him through the village on a donkey, accusing him of stealing firewood.

On June 6, 2024, a Muslim factory owner tortured to death 18-year-old Catholic worker, Waqas Salamat, for leaving the job against his wishes. According to the victim’s mother, five men, including the employer and his son, forcibly took her son to the factory and tortured him for hours with electric shocks, resulting in his death.

Pakistan ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian. Christians in the country regularly face violence, discrimination, and injustice from the Muslim majority.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Pakistani court issues death sentences for “online blasphemy”.

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