Pakistani Christian Saleem Masih died on 28 February, three days after he was tortured by a Muslim cattle farm owner for washing in water from the Muslim’s well.
The 22-year-old farm labourer rinsed himself off in water pumped from the well after unloading husks from a vehicle. The enraged farm owner accused Saleem of “polluting” the water at Baguyana, a village in Kasur district, Punjab province.
Calling Saleem a “chuhra” (a term of derision commonly taken to mean latrine cleaner) and a “filthy Christian”, the farm owner ordered his men to tie Saleem’s hands and chain his feet before they tortured him with sticks and heated iron rods. They rolled a heavy iron rod over Saleem’s body, causing multiple fractures and internal injuries.
Saleem’s family, who were notified by police, found him unconscious and bleeding severely, and had to plead with the farm owner to permit them to take Saleem to hospital for treatment.
Ghafoor Masih, Saleem’s father, said he knew his son was killed for “nothing but for being Christian”. He said he wanted justice for his son, but acknowledged “there is not much hope” because “we are poor, we are Christian”. However, Ghafoor added, “we are Pakistani citizens too”.
Saleem’s case is similar to that of Pakistani Christian Aasia Bibi , a mother-of-five who spent nearly eight years on death row after being falsely accused of “blasphemy”. Her arrest followed a dispute in June 2009 with Muslim women over a shared cup of water, which the Muslim women considered “unclean” because it had been used by a Christian.
