ICC Note: A mob attacked a Christian community, after a dispute over land that quickly got out of hand. The property belonged to a Catholic church in the area, but it bordered the property of a Muslim man in the community. The mob attacked the Christian community breaking a 10-year-olds arm and beating two women.
10/06/2018 Pakistan (World Watch Monitor) – A land dispute between Christian and Muslim villagers in rural Pakistan ended with a mob attack on the Christian community, but no charges against the attackers.
A 10-year-old boy’s arm was broken and two women were beaten and had their clothes torn when a mob of at least men and women descended upon the Christian community in Warn village, Kasur district, on 2 August.
This came after false accusations that Christian youths had stoned a Muslim man to death for attempting to claim land belonging to the Christians, who make up around a fifth of the village’s population.
Now, almost two months later, the Christian villagers, who are mostly illiterate and work as laborers at the local brick kiln, say they are too scared to file an official complaint with the police, for fear of further attacks.
One local Christian, Bashir Masih, third from the right in the above photo, told World Watch Monitor his community wouldn’t “expect anything to come out of it” if the matter were investigated. “Rather it will fan more hatred and they will come back to beat us again,” he said.
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