A Catholic father was shot to death in Pakistan July 10 over his objection to the mistreatment of local Christians, Christian Daily International–Morning Star News reported.
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Marshall Masih of Lahore, Pakistan, was a 29-year-old husband and the father of four children, ages 18 months to 10 years. He was reportedly slaughtered in front of his wife and children when four Muslims cut through his home’s roof in the early hours of the morning and entered.
“The assailants broke the door of my brother’s bedroom on the first floor of the house and held him and his family hostage on gunpoint,” Masih’s sister, Goshi Yaqoob, told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “They then opened indiscriminate fire on him, riddling his body with 16 bullets in the presence of his wife and minor children.”
Yaqoob heard the gunshots from a nearby home and rushed to the scene; she was heartbroken to discover the violent murder had unfolded.
“I was horrified to see his blood-soaked body lying on the floor while his wife and children were huddled in a corner crying frantically,” she told the outlet.
Masih, who later died at the hospital, was the sole provider for his family, including his elderly parents.
He had reportedly filed a police report two months before against one of the assailants for allegedly firing shows in the area and harassing Christian women.
According to Yaqoob, the accused had been arrested but was later released. She said authorities then turned on her brother and pressured him to stop speaking out on behalf of the Christians.
“The Muslims were offended that a Christian had taken a stand against their criminal activities,” Yaqoob said. “And, by killing him in cold blood, they have shown that our lives do not matter.”
She said the family is fearful about survival in the future in light of Masih’s killing. Yaqoob added the family’s “entire world has crumbled after this incident.”
Please pray for the family as they mourn and seek justice. Read more about the story here.
As CBN News previously reported, persecution problems are seemingly increasing in Pakistan. Most recently, a Catholic man was jailed after accidentally stepping on pages of the Quran.
Dennis Albert, 35, reportedly found himself in legal crosshairs in April after exiting his pull car and inadvertently standing on papers said to have come from the Islamic holy book.
In a separate incident, police reportedly refused to help a Catholic family who recently fell victim to an attack by armed Muslims. Shahnaz Yousaf told Christian Daily International–Morning Star News her family saw their farmland seized during an April 16 assault. Read more about the horrific report here.
Meanwhile, a pastor survived an assassination attempt last year. There was also a horrific Aug. 16 assault last year, during which churches and Christians’ homes were attacked by Muslim mobs over blasphemy allegations in the same area, the UCA News reported. That incident led to at least 129 arrests.
Pakistan ranks on Open Doors’ World Watch List as the seventh most dangerous place for Christians.
“Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws are often used to target minority groups, but Christians are disproportionately affected,” the Open Doors report reads. “Indeed, roughly a quarter of all blasphemy accusations target Christians, who only make up 1.8% of the population.”
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