SIALKOT, Pakistan — A 37-year-old Christian is languishing in a Sialkot jail after police broke his backbone because his father was preaching Christ, according to a local advocacy group. Arshad Masih had been in a hospital — chained to his bed on false robbery charges — after police torture that began Dec. 28, 2008, left him incapacitated. He was discharged from General Hospital in Lahore on June 20 and returned to jail despite efforts by the Community Development Initiative (CDI), a support group that is providing Masih legal assistance.
CDI Research Officer Napoleon Qayyum said Hajipura police detained Masih on Dec. 28 on orders from the Sadar police station in Gujranwala, where Masih’s father, Iqbal Masih, had been preaching Christ. Iqbal Masih said objections to his efforts led to false accusations of robbery against his son. The complainant in the robbery case eventually testified that Arshad Masih hadn’t been among the robbers and he was granted bail.
Before court orders reached the jail, however, Sialkot police informed Sadar police officers in Gujranwala, who arrived at the jail and had Arshad Masih remanded to them for a robbery case filed against “unidentified people.” Gujranwala police also threatened to kill Arshad Masih in a staged police encounter if he told the court that he had been tortured, according to CDI.
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