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Sattar Masih and his son Azhar worked on the property of a Muslim landowner. When they resigned, they began to receive threats. They beat and injured the mother. A few days ago the first hearing was held only thanks to the intervention of the Human Rights Focus Pakistan association.
Faisalabad () – A Christian family was attacked by a group of Muslims after quitting their jobs and was forced to ask the Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) association for legal advice.
Sattar Masih and his son Azhar worked in Thikriwala, near Faisalabad, on the property of Khuram Yasin, a Muslim landowner. Due to discrimination and violence, father and son had quit, but Yasin wanted to force them to continue working for him. After a new refusal, at the end of March the Muslim accused the Masih of stealing a chicken of a special breed valued at 210,000 rupees (1,000 euros).
At Yasin’s request, the police arrested Azhar, but he was released due to lack of evidence. One month later, due to pressure from the landowner’s religious and political contacts, the police nevertheless filed a first report against Masih Azhar’s family, that he was arrested again; the father and mother, Khalida Parveen, went to Khurram Yasin’s property and asked that the complaint against him be reviewed, stating that they were innocent.
The family was then attacked by Muslim employees with guns, knives and sticks; Khalida was injured in her right arm with a knife and a woman violently ripped her earrings from her ears.
Sattar Masih filed a complaint at the Thikriwala police station accompanied by the forensic medical report they made on his wife at the Faisalabad hospital, but the police did not give him any response. Khalida’s injuries worsened and she had to go back to hospital, so Sattar decided to contact HRFP. Thanks to his intervention, Azhar was released from prison on May 7, but the whole family began to receive death threats. Once again the Christians went to the police and once again their complaints were not heard. At the end of May, Khalida and Sattar filed a lawsuit with the district court and at a hearing held on June 24, the court ordered the police to ensure that the defendants appear at the next hearing to which they would be summoned. ..
“The behavior of the police, authorities and law enforcement was derogatory and prejudiced,” Naveed Walter, president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan, told , condemning the attack on Sattar Masih and Khalida Parveen for their religious beliefs. “The laws must be changed and it is absolutely necessary to prohibit any type of discrimination in the workplace. There have been several cases of abuse against minorities as a result of disputes that arise in the workplace,” explained Walter
