Thousands attend funeral of murdered Catholic girl in Pakistan
ICC Note
The brutal murder of Shazia highlights the plight of Christians in Pakistan .
01/27/2010 Pakistan (CNA)-On Jan. 25, thousands of people in Pakistan attended the funeral of a 12-year-old Catholic girl who was allegedly raped and killed by her Muslim employer.
According to advocacy group Minorities Concern of Pakistan, Shazia Bashir, a house maid from Lahore , was killed by her employer, Chaudhry Muhammad Naeem, a prominent lawyer and former president of the Lahore Bar Association on Jan. 22. Shazia Bashir had been working as a domestic laborer for Naeem for 8 months and was reportedly the only source of income for her impoverished family.
Naeem, the alleged perpetrator, was reported to have offered Shazia’s family the equivalent of US $250 to keep silent after the murder.
Angry over a lack of action, a group of Christians and Muslims protested outside the Punjab Assembly for 3 hours, leading the police to file a First Information Report (FIR) 18 hours after the crime had allegedly been committed. On Jan. 24, six accused individuals related to the crime were arrested, including Naeem and some of his family members.
