GODHPUR, Pakistan — Police suspect two Muslim extremists shot a Christian to death Nov. 18 in Punjab province shortly after the victim was granted bail in a “blasphemy” case — and less than a week after Islamist militants killed four members of a Christian family for their faith. In Godhpur village in Narowal district, 69 miles northeast of Lahore, 22-year-old Latif Masih died after two men with pistols shot him to death near his home.
Inspector Rafique Ahmed said that Masih’s murder was likely linked to the case against him for allegedly desecrating the Quran. Masih was released on bail Nov. 3 after his accuser, Ijaz Ahmed, said he was not sure Masih was guilty, police said. Inspector Ibrahaim Shah said Ahmed demanded he help him take over Masih’s shop. When Shah arrested Masih, “Ahmed kept saying that he will ensure that no Christian can live or buy a shop in Godhpur village,” Shah said.
In Mehmoodabad near Multan in southern Punjab province, police believe six militants belonging to the Islamist terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba killed four Christian family members, including a 5-year-old boy, on Nov. 12. Dead on the scene were two grown children of 42-year-old schoolteacher Shahista Iqbal Gill — 23-year-old Atif Iqbal Gill and 21-year-old Tehreem Iqbal Gill — as well as her sister-in-law, identified only as Gulshan, 25. Another of Shahista Iqbal Gill’s children, 5-year-old Imran Iqbal Gill, later succumbed to his wounds in the hospital. A fourth child, Arsalan Iqbal Gill, 18, was in serious condition. Both he and his 5-year-old brother bore strangulation marks on their necks.
Multan District Coordination Officer Taimoor Shahid Jadoon instructed Multan police to register a First Information Report against six as yet unnamed members of Lashkar-e-Taiba. “The numbers taken from Shahista’s phone records belong to the members of Lashkar-e-Taiba,” he said. “They had been threatening Shahista and her family.”
Share with others: