Afrigather LAHORE, Pakistan — A Catholic father of 4 youngsters was gunned down by Muslim neighbors final week after he objected to their harassment of Christians within the space, his household mentioned.>>>CONTINUE FULL READING HERE
Marshall Masih of the Patiala Home space in Lahore was the only breadwinner for his aged mother and father, spouse and 4 youngsters — the oldest 10, the youngest 18 months previous. He was 29.
Marshall Masih was killed on July 10, 2024 in Lahore, Pakistan.
Marshall Masih was killed on July 10, 2024 in Lahore, Pakistan. | Christian Every day Worldwide-Morning Star Information courtesy of household
His sister Goshi Yaqoob, 33, mentioned his household was asleep at 4:25 a.m. final Wednesday when 4 armed Muslims led by Muhammad Shani and Azam Ali entered their home from the rooftop after slicing the iron grill.
“The assailants broke the door of my brother’s bed room on the primary ground of the home and held him and his household hostage on gunpoint,” Yaqoob advised Christian Every day Worldwide-Morning Star Information. “They then opened indiscriminate hearth on him, riddling his physique with 16 bullets within the presence of his spouse and minor youngsters.”
Yaqoob was at her mother and father’ home at the moment. The sound of gunfire and the screams of her sister-in-law and youngsters woke her up, and she or he rushed to their home, the place she noticed 4 males heading to the roof. She went to her brother’s bed room.
“I used to be horrified to see his blood-soaked physique mendacity on the ground whereas his spouse and youngsters have been huddled in a nook crying frantically,” she mentioned, breaking down in tears.
Neighbors woke up by the screams helped the household take the critically injured Masih to the hospital, the place he died from bleeding and the injuries to his organs, she mentioned.
Masih, generally known as Bunty, had filed a police grievance towards Shani two and a half months in the past after repeated, unsuccessful makes an attempt to dissuade him and his cohorts from common aerial firing within the space and harassing Christian girls, she mentioned.
“Although the police arrested Shani and recovered unlawful weapons from his possession, he was freed after a day with none case,” Yaqoob mentioned. “As an alternative, the police pressured my brother to cease pursuing the matter. The Muslims have been offended {that a} Christian had taken a stand towards their prison actions, and by killing him in chilly blood, they’ve proven that our lives don’t matter.”
Christians held a protest exterior the workplace of the Punjab province chief minister the identical day demanding swift justice.
“However our pleas have fallen on deaf ears, and to date not one of the accused murderers have been arrested,” she mentioned.
Her father, a retired sanitation employee, is 75 and not too long ago underwent coronary heart surgical procedure, and the household is worried about the way forward for Masih’s youngsters and younger widow.
“My brother was the only supplier for the household, however along with his premature demise, we’re clueless as to how his younger widow and 4 youngsters will survive now,” she mentioned. “Our total world has crumbled after this incident.”
She appealed to the provincial authorities and to Christians for help.
“We’re in dire want of assist. My father’s meager pension can not help the household, particularly the training and wellbeing of the youngsters, in addition to the authorized battle to convey the killers to justice,” she mentioned. “I enchantment to the federal government to present training scholarships to the youngsters and urge my fellow Christians to assist us in no matter means attainable in order that we are able to get justice from the courts.”
Masih ran a small grocery retailer out of his home and had fame among the many 20 Christian households residing within the space for greater than three a long time, his sister mentioned.
“We’re three sisters, and Masih was our solely brother, the youngest of the 4 siblings,” she mentioned. “He was a God-fearing Catholic who labored very arduous to supply a livelihood for our mother and father, each of whom are coronary heart sufferers, and his household.”
Rise in violence
There was a rise in violent crimes towards Christians in Pakistan since assaults on a number of church buildings and houses of Christians in Jaranwala on Aug. 16, when two brothers have been falsely accused of blasphemy. A number of the assaults have additionally been attributed to the Israel-Palestine battle following the Hamas terrorist assault on Oct. 7, as Christians are seen as being sympathetic in the direction of Jews.
On Nov. 9, 20-year-old Christian Farhan Ul Qamar was allegedly shot lifeless by a Muslim Muhammad Zubair in his home in Talwandi Inayat Khan village, Pasrur tehsil of Sialkot District, Punjab province, within the presence of his mother and father. Qamar’s father mentioned Zubair confirmed hatred for Christians and Jews, mistakenly referring to the household as Jews as he ranted at them earlier than allegedly killing the Christian.
A 14-year-old Christian boy was gunned down by Muslims within the Mandiala Warraich space of Gujranwala District, Punjab province, on Feb. 5, in an assault purportedly motivated by the Jaranwala incident.
The sufferer, Sunil Masih, was standing out there with some members of the family when the assailants arrived on bikes. They allegedly shouted that no Christian within the space needs to be left alive and opened hearth, killing Masih on the spot whereas others barely managed to avoid wasting their lives.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doorways’ 2024 World Watch Checklist of essentially the most tough locations to be a Christian, because it was the earlier 12 months.
This text was initially revealed by Christian Every day Worldwide–Morning Star Information.
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