Muslim Student Accused of Killing Christian in Pakistan Released on Bail

A Muslim high school student accused of killing a Christian in Pakistan has been freed on bail due to gaps in police investigations, sources said.

 

Sharoon Masih, 17, died on Aug. 27, 2017 after Ahmed Raza beat him for drinking water from a glass used by all students in a classroom in Punjab Province’s Vehari District, as Raza considered Sharoon an “unclean” Christian, according to the deceased’s father. Ilyasab Masih said he based his account on what Muslim student witnesses had told him, but that they later changed their story. His son was the only Christian in the class.

 

Masih said Raza’s family has offered him more than $27,000 to settle the case, which he has refused.

 

Prosecuting attorney Allah Dad Khan said a police First Information Report (FIR) and post-mortem report left several gaps that enabled Raza to obtain bail on Jan. 8 from the Lahore High Court’s Multan bench. The FIR drafted by police states that Sharoon’s father had witnessed the accused beating his son, though Masih was not present at the time of the attack, Khan said.

 

“The defense will use this factual error for its benefit in the trial court,” Khan said.

 

The FIR states that in the course of Raza kicking and punching Sharoon, he hit him fatally in the abdomen, Khan said.

 

“However, the post-mortem report states that there were no torture marks…