ICC Note:
Since August, three Christian boys across Pakistan have been murdered due to their faith. Recently, a 14-year-old Christian boy was beaten to death by police after getting into a fight with a Muslim classmate who tried to get the Christian to renounce his faith. Last month, another Christian boy was killed by his Muslim classmates after an altercation broke out over a broken mobile phone. In addition to that, another Christian boy was murdered by a mob after being accused of blasphemy. Discrimination against Christians in Pakistan is widespread and can easily spark into extreme violence. Will this series of murders force Pakistan’s government to take steps to protect Christians?
10/13/2017 Pakistan (Baptist Press) – Police in Pakistan beat a 14-year-old Christian boy to death on Monday, Oct. 9, because he had gotten into a fight with a Muslim classmate who tried to bully him into renouncing his faith, Morning Star News reported Oct. 11.
Arasalan Masih is the third Christian teenager to be killed in Pakistan since August.
Mushtaq Masih told Morning Star News that his son, Arsalan Masih, was a student at a private center in the Punjab province village of Jhabran Mandi, located in the province’s Sheikhupura district. Arsalan was at the center when seven policemen from the local Bahu Chowk police post arrived at about 5 p.m. in an official vehicle and stormed the premises, Masih said.
“Arsalan was attending his tuition classes at the Ideal Science Academy when head constable Imtiaz, driver Rashid, constable Arshad and other unidentified policemen kicked open the door and dragged him out of the classroom,” Masih said. “Sardar, alias Billu, a police constable, helped them to identify the boy. With this, they all started beating Arsalan with fists, kicks and rifle butts.”
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In August, two Pakistani Christian teens were killed, according to Morning Star News reports: Asif Masih, 16, who was severely beaten by a mob after being accused of blasphemy another Christian student, and 17-year-old Sharoon Masih, who was killed by a Muslim classmate during school hours in Punjab’s Vehari district because he had taken a drink of water from a glass used by all students — an act many Muslims hold in disdain as they regard Christians as “unclean.”
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