SIALKOT, Pakistan — At a funeral Sept. 16 for a Christian man allegedly tortured to death while in custody on a spurious charge of blaspheming the Quran, police in Sialkot fired on mourners trying to move the coffin to another site.
Area Christians suspect police killed 22-year-old Robert Danish, nicknamed “Fanish” or “Falish” by friends, by torturing him to death Sept. 15 after the mother of his Muslim girlfriend contrived a charge against him of desecrating Islam’s scripture.
The allegation led to calls from mosque loudspeakers to punish Christians, prompting an Islamic mob to attack a church building in Jhethe Key village Sept. 11 and beat several of the 30 families forced to flee their homes.
Jhethe Key was Danish’s native village, and some family members and other Christians wished to transfer his coffin to his hometown.
Eyewitnesses at the funeral said police fired shots directly at the Christians, injuring three, when mourners began to move the coffin toward nearby Jhethe Key. Mourners fled. Sialkot is 78 miles northwest of Lahore in Punjab province.
Controversy swirled around the cause of Danish’s death, with Christians refusing to accept police claims that he committed suicide.
Three prison officials have reportedly been suspended.
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