A Christian man is killed for taking a sick day off work!

We have received a report from Pakistan of the death of a young Christian man killed by his Muslim employer.

Information is still thin on the ground, however the youth has been named as Imran Masih who lived in Nut Kallan in Punjab. Imran worked as a driver for close to two years on behalf of a Mohammed Masood, who is said to be a wealthy landowner in the district of Gujaranwala.

APMA a charity based in Pakistan state that on the 5th February 2010, Imran was absent from work due to an illness. The next day he was purportedly beaten and tortured to death. Hi father was contacted later by Masood and a number of accomplices involved in the incident. They handed over Imran's body and told the father Lal Masih that he had committed suicide.

The distraught father noticing the scars from the torture and beating reported the death to the local police station. It is said by APMA that the local Police had been contacted by influential businessman Masood and as a consequence connived with him, to dissuade the father from registering the case.,

APMA subsequently organised a public protest in Gujranwala and completely blocked the streets. They made an appeal to the local authorities to intervene in the matter, which resulted in an official record of formal murder charges and damages being placed against Mohammad Masood and two of his accomplices.

The local Christian community buried Imran Masih on 8 February 2011 in his village of Nut Kallan.

The BPCA condemn this attack and call for better safety for the minority communities in Pakistan. We call for more pay for Police Officer's that should reciprocally reduce the proclivity for accepting bribery. We also call for thorough Police service auditing and investigation of abuse with immediate suspension and termination of contract where approriate. It is essential that Local Police services work for the betterment of the community with integrity and honesty, irrespective of a victims faith or other diversity.

The case is still in progress and we will keep you informed of progress as we obtain it.

Another link to the story can be found here:

http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=28311&lan=eng