Two disturbing Christian persecution stories have come out of Pakistan in recent days, with a teen reportedly being doused in acid by a Muslim man angry over her refusal to convert to Islam.
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Sunita Masih, 19, of Karachi, Pakistan, was purportedly the victim of this horrific attack after she declined to enter into a relationship with the assailant. After Masih left home to go to work Feb. 1, Morning Star News reported the man, identified in the article as Kamran Allah Bux, allegedly tossed acid on her.
Masih was left with severe burns to her face and other areas of her body, with her uncle explaining the impact of the dreadful assault.
“Sunita is just 19, but now her whole life has been physically and mentally scarred by Kamran,” he told Morning Star News. “Even if he is convicted for his crime, will Sunita be able to live a normal life again?”
He went on to allege Masih was pressured to renounce her Christian faith by Bux before the assault. Bux purportedly told her he would marry her if she became a Muslim, though she rebuffed his prompts. Attempts to convince the man’s parents to halt this behavior were reportedly fruitless.
Masih told police about the impact of the acid attack on her body.
“My eyes, face, arms, and legs started burning as soon as Kamran threw the acid on me,” she said, according to Morning Star News. “The pain was so excruciating that I collapsed on the road.”
Bux has since been taken into custody as the family seeks justice.
In a separate incident in Pakistan, a Catholic farm laborer was allegedly beaten to death by a Muslim landowner — a horrific event predicated on the claim the Catholic worker stole oranges from an orchard.
Emmanuel Masih, 48, was purportedly beaten to death Feb. 6 by landowner Rana Muhammad Waseem and five others. Masih reportedly said he was innocent, but, according to his nephew, Zahid Sahotra, the group “beat him up mercilessly, resulting in his death.”
He was poor and was working to support his wife and six children. Sahotra said he doesn’t believe his family will be able to fight a fruitful legal battle.
“We do not have money to engage a good lawyer,” he told Morning Star News. “The murderers are powerful people, and it’s only a matter of time that they’ll be out on bail by influencing the police investigation.”
Then Sahotra added a tragic claim about the family’s faith that adds true heartbreak to the dire scenario: “The fact that we are Christians makes us more vulnerable to injustice.”
These sobering stories help explain the dire situation inside Pakistan, a nation that is the seventh worst place in the world for Christian persecution, according to Open Doors’ World Watch List. The tragic situation is detailed in the organization’s latest 2023 report.
“Christians in Pakistan are considered second-class citizens and face discrimination in every aspect of life,” the report reads. “Jobs that are seen as low, dirty, and degrading are reserved for Christians by the authorities, who continue to push them to the margins of society.”
It continues, “They lack proper representation in politics and, although there were no major attacks against churches last year, there are almost constant attacks against individuals. Many do not feel safe to worship freely.”
Read more here.
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