Police in Pakistan say a Christian couple tortured and slain in early November over accusations the wife desecrated the Quran were innocent. Relatives claim politicians are trying to shield the killers from justice.
Urged to act from mosque loudspeakers a frenzied mob Nov. 4 tore the clothes off Shama, 28, and Shahzad, 32, Masih, struck them, broke their legs, dragged them behind a tractor and threw them into the burning furnace of a brick kiln.
“She was not guilty of blasphemy,” said Kasur District Police Capt. Jawad Qamar.
On Nov. 2 Shama Masih was cleaning her quarters in Chak 59 village near Kot Radha Kishan, Karur District, about 37 miles southwest of Lahore, when she found amulets of her late father-in-law, who had used them in the practice of black magic. The amulets may have contained Quran verses and a Muslim co-worker, Muhammad Irfan, noticed the half-burnt papers and accused the family of desecrating the Quran, relatives said. But she was illiterate and could not have known even if Quranic verses were among debris she had burned.
Under Pakistan’s widely condemned blasphemy statutes intent must be shown for a conviction of desecrating the Quran.
Bribes offered
At a press conference in Islamabad on Nov. 16 family members said Islamists have offered them land and money as compensation for the murders in an attempt to stop them from prosecuting.
Relatives of the couple said influential Muslims of the area including a Punjab Province lawmaker were issuing threats in an attempt to force them to reach an agreement with the killers. Shahzad Masih’s brother, Shahbaz Masih, and his wife, Parveen Masih, demanded the government provide them with protection, saying they had already informed the Kasur District police officer of the threats.
They also demanded the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the mob violence, adding that non-Muslim representatives should be included in the team.
Among other demands the Masih family called for the commission and a Joint Investigation Team to make its reports publicly available immediately after completion. Shahbaz Masih also urged the Supreme Court to order an independent inquiry into the attack.
Further concerns
The family’s concerns come amid reports the provincial lawmaker of the area, Muhammad Anees Qureshi, was present at the crime scene when the throng of hundreds tortured and killed Shama and Shahzad.
Family sources said Qureshi, a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government, also was making efforts to shield the primary suspect, Riaz Kamboh, from justice. Kamboh is accused of throwing the couple into the furnace after pouring tractor diesel on their bodies.
“Qureshi arrived on the spot just when the lynchers had tortured the couple unconscious,” said a relative who asked to remain unnamed for security reasons. “They were not hurled into the furnace till then.”
Contrary to published reports Qamar said police have arrested 43 of some 60 named suspects, 39 of whom were in jail, while four were to be produced in an anti-terrorism court on completion of their police remand.
Tahir Ashrafi, a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology, Pakistan’s top religious body, held police responsible for failing to act to protect the couple before the mob violence occurred.
“All culprits must be arrested and punished, including the cleric [who made the blasphemy accusation in a mosque] if he’s involved,” he said.
The Masihs are survived by four children, the oldest is seven. Shama also was five months pregnant.
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