MUSLIM POLICE CONSTABLE MURDERS CHRISTIAN IN HOSPITAL ACCUSED OF BLASPHEMY

PAKISTAN

10 June 2004

A young Christian man died from severe head trauma after three days in a coma following an attack by a Muslim police constable who struck him with a hammer while he lay defenceless in hospital.

Samuel Masih was hospitalised on 22 May having contracted tuberculosis in prison. Samuel had been detained since August 2003 under Pakistan’s controversial “blasphemy law” for allegedly defiling a mosque. In the early hours of 24 May police constable Faryad Ali entered Samuel’s hospital room and despite the presence of a police guard assaulted Samuel with a brick-cutter’s hammer. Faryad Ali sought to kill Samuel because of the accusation of blasphemy. Samuel went into a coma from which he never recovered. He died on 28 May.

Faryad Ali said that he felt it was his duty as a Muslim to kill Samuel. He told police, “I wanted to earn a place in heaven.” He had previously expressed hatred for Samuel to his colleagues. He was arrested for attempted murder, which was changed to formal murder charges after Samuel died.

The “blasphemy law” is often misused by Muslims in Pakistan to get revenge in personal disputes, especially against Christians who are particularly vulnerable because the testimony of a Muslim in court is valued above that of a non-Muslim. Librarian Muhammad Yaqoob of the Idara Darusalam Jinnah Garden Mosque in Lahore, who filed the charges against Samuel, claimed he saw Samuel spit on the wall of the mosque near the library. Before his arrest Samuel had worked as a painter and whitewasher.

Devout Muslims often feel they should kill alleged blasphemers, whether convicted or not. Four Christians accused of blasphemy have been murdered between 1992 and 2002. Most Christians who have been accused and acquitted have had to leave Pakistan and come to the West after their release because anyone even accused of blasphemy is considered by Muslim extremists to be guilty for life.

PRAY

* Pray for Samuel’s family, that God would give them His peace and grace at this time.

* Pray for the safety of Christians in Pakistan, as they always face the possibility that someone will try to bring a charge against them under Pakistan’s blasphemy legislation.

* Pray that the Pakistani police and judiciary authorities will examine this case honestly and not drop the charges against Faryad Ali.

* Pray that the Pakistani government will repeal or amend the “blasphemy law” to make it less easily abused; praise God for some of the positive moves they seem to be making in this direction.

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