10/21/2020 Pakistan (International Christian Concern) – According to local reports, a Christian woman was beaten in public by a Muslim man in Sangla Hill, located in Pakistan’s Punjab province, in an incident of religious hatred. The Christian victim filed a police report against her attacker, but no arrest has been made to date.
On October 12, Balqees Bibi, a Christian woman from the Ward 3 neighborhood of Sangla Hill, stood in the street and called out to a relative using his Christian name. According to Bibi’s son, Khuram, this used of a Christian name annoyed a local Muslim man named Muhammad Abass Butt.
“Abbas was full of religious hatred against my mother,” Khuram told International Christian Concern (ICC). “He often expressed his anger against Christians in the street, but everyone ignored him to avoid disputes.”
On October 12, Abass was annoyed hearing Bibi call out a Christian name and decided to confront her.
“Abbas started abusing my mother saying ‘Oh choori! Shut your mouth!’,” Khuram reported. “When she argued with him, he slapped her and dragged her into the street.”
Abbas was angry that Bibi, a person he considered socially lower than him due to her religious identity, had argued with him in public. As Abbas beat Bibi, he also used an extremely derogatory slur for Christians which labels them as untouchables.
After the attack, Bibi and her family registered a police complaint against Abbas (FIR # 372/20). However, there police have yet to arrest Abbas or his son who reportedly joined his father in beating Bibi.
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