Christian Employee Brutally Attacked in Sheikhupura Over False Blasphemy Allegation

A 22-year-old Christian employee, Waqas Masih, was critically injured in a assault at a paper mill in Sheikhupura. The assault reportedly adopted false accusations of blasphemy and ongoing stress to transform to Islam.

Waqas, is a resident of Sheikhupura, and had been working as a contractor at Subhan Allah Paper Mills in Chak No. 16, Sharaqpur. In response to his sources, Waqas was the one Christian worker on the mill and had been constantly harassed by his Muslim colleagues to transform to Islam.

The incident came about on the afternoon of Friday, March 21, when his father Riyasat Masih visited his son on the manufacturing unit. Whereas they had been talking in a personal room, Zohaib Iftikhar, a shift in-charge on the mill, allegedly summoned Waqas underneath a pretext. In response to eyewitnesses, Zohaib questioned Waqas about his religion and requested if he had embraced Islam. When Waqas steadily refused, Zohaib reportedly pulled out a pointy slicing blade and attacked him, slashing his throat and focusing on the jugular vein.

In response to his father and different coworkers, Waqas collapsed as a result of deep injures within the neck. Whereas the Perpetrator Zohaib fled from the manufacturing unit.

When Zohaib perceive the gravity of the scenario he accused Waqas of tearing the pages of the Islamic textbook. The cost of Blasphemy in opposition to Islam and its Prophet is maintain the intense penalties underneath Pakistan legislation.

After the assault, Waqas was rushed to Mayo Hospital in Lahore, the place he stays in essential situation. Initially unable to talk on account of his accidents, he later regained partial consciousness and wrote an announcement describing the incident. In his observe, Waqas alleged that Zohaib had intentionally tried to border him for blasphemy and initially approached him in a pleasant method earlier than launching the brutal assault.

The manufacturing unit administration has filed a First Data Report (FIR) on the Sharaqpur Police Station, and Zohaib Iftikhar has been taken into police custody. Authorities have confirmed that an investigation is at the moment underway.

Misuse of Blasphemy legal guidelines in Pakistan:

The misuse of blasphemy legal guidelines in Pakistan has turn out to be a critical human rights concern, typically weaponized to focus on spiritual minorities and settle private scores. Launched to guard spiritual sentiments, these legal guidelines—notably Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code—carry extreme punishments, together with the demise penalty. Nonetheless, obscure definitions and lack of safeguards have made them susceptible to abuse. False accusations are continuously used to persecute Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, and even Muslims over petty disputes, land grabs, or private grudges. As soon as accused, the victims face mob violence, prolonged imprisonments, and even extrajudicial killings, typically with out credible proof. Regardless of rising nationwide and worldwide requires reform, the worry of backlash has saved successive governments from amending these controversial legal guidelines.