Saleem Masih, a 22-year old Pakistani Christian farm worker has been tortured to death for allegedly washing in a well owned by his landlord.
FaithWire reports that Masih sustained injuries after it was discovered he had been bathing in the well and subsequently died three days later on February 28 at Lahore General Hospital.
The newspaper reports that on February 25, Masih was working as a day labourer in an agricultural field in Kasur District owned by his landlord, Sher Dogar.
It said Masih was spotted early in the morning by his landlord and other Muslims while he was cleaning himself in a nearby tube well after which he was pulled out of the water and given a serious beating for “polluting” the water.
“The abused and tortured (Masih) for ‘polluting’ the Muslims’ water,” the deceased uncle, Waris Masih told International Christian Concern (ICC).
“They got aggressive because a ‘Choora’ (derogatory term used for Pakistani Christians as unclean) dared to make their water unclean. They claimed this would make their entire crop filthy.”
The newspaper further said the mob dragged Masih to Dogar’s cattle farm where they chained him and tortured him for two hours.
He was reportedly beaten with sticks and iron bars, given electric shocks and run over with heavy machinery.
The police subsequently invited Masih’s father, Ghafoor, to the farm where he saw his son lying in a pool of blood and unconscious.
Ghafoor rushed his son to the district hospital, but he was quickly transferred to Lahore due to the severity of his condition.
Masih was reportedly in coma for three days before giving up the ghost as a result of the injuries.
“Thus incident has damaged my strength,” Masih’s father said. “He was my child star and the face of the family. The culprits have killed him very brutally. I want justice for my son and punishment for the killers.”
Mian Muhammad Abbas, a Muslim community leader, said, “This village and country belong to every citizen and we are sad for Saleem Masih. Christians and Muslims have been living in this village together for over four decades. We still want to live in peace.”
Meanwhile, the police have filed a First information report against Masih’s landlord, Dogar, while the six men allegedly involved in the attack are in custody.