A young Christian man has died after a Muslim landowner on Tuesday (Feb. 25) chained and tortured him, accusing him of “polluting” his tube-well water by rinsing in it, sources said.
Saleem Masih, 22, had finished unloading chaff in fields in Baguyana village, Karsur District, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Lahore, and was rinsing himself off in the tube-well when property owner Sher Dogar and other men rushed over, yanked him out of the water and began beating him, according to the Christian’s father, Ghafoor Masih.
“They cursed and abused Saleem for ‘polluting’ the water, calling him a ‘filthy Christian,’” the elder Masih told Morning Star News. “They then dragged him to their cattle farm, where they chained his hands and feet and continued to torture him with sticks and rods. They also rolled a thick iron rod over his entire body, causing multiple fractures in his left arm and ribs. Saleem couldn’t bear the pain and fell unconscious.”
The father of eight, a member of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Church USA, said police officers informed the family at about 9 a.m., telling them to come to Dogar’s cattle farm.
“When we reached there, we found Saleem lying unconscious on the ground, his face and body bloodied due to the torture,” he said. “Dogar had apparently summoned the cops himself, and it was evident that he had also bribed them, because they tried to coerce us into ‘settling the matter’ amicably.”
Dogar and his colleagues said that Saleem had “committed a crime by dirtying” their well water, and that his punishment was “justified,” the elder Masih said.
The Masih family pleaded with the landowner to free Saleem Masih so they could take him to a hospital to keep him from dying.
“After much pleading, they allowed us to take Saleem while the police acted like spectators,” he said.
They took him to a district hospital where he received initial treatment, and then doctors told them to take him to Lahore’s General Hospital due to the severity of his internal injuries, Masih said. He succumbed to his injuries today (Feb. 28), sources said
“After seeing the police’s indifference to our ordeal, I do not have much hope that my son’s attackers will be brought to justice,” the deceased’s father said.
SOURCE: Christian Headlines; Morning Star News
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