A ten year old Christian child who chose to work in a dangerous scrap factory so he could support his mother who had to fend for a family of two boys and
a drug-addict husband, was raped and tortured before being killed by his Muslim employers. Our earliest report on Badil's murder can be read (here)
Several delays have halted progress with a murder trial and the men accused of the murder have already been released on bail and have been threatening the witnesses and the family of Badil Masih. Read more (here), (here) and
Requests to provide protection to the eye witnesses have been made repeatedly but never actioned by the station house officer of Ghulam Muhammad Abad Police Station Faisalabad. This lack of protection from the police has discouraged them and the witnesses who were initially giving one set of statements for a police First Information Report (FIR), are now changing their statement. The witnesses may also have accepted a bribe and a bribe may have been paid to the investigating officer as the perpetrators are very wealthy and influential.
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During a hearing on 14th January 2021, Sessions Judge Muhammad Yusaf Ajula had summoned the witnesses to present their statements before before the court.
One of the witnesses Ashfaq Maish, said:
“Police man, in a horrible tone, pushed the summon in my hands and threatened me of dire consequences if I fail to show up in the court on 14 th January”
It was made clear many time that he no longer wanted to be a witness in the murder trial despite being an eyewitness.
Threatened and constantly coerced by the influential murderers of innocent Badil Masih, Waqas and Ashfaq Masih the two witnesses were made to attend
the court on the said date. The two men during their statements in court altered important facts that make it less likely that Badil Masih's
case will succeed. Though they originally said they had seen Badil lying beaten and struggling to breathe at the scrapyard of his employers they
are now stating they had seen him in this state at his home and never went to the incident site. They are now being very uncooperative with Shareefa
Bibi the mother of Badil Masih and are asking for her to accept the compensation from his murderers which has now reached an offer of 500,000 rupees
(£2268) and a home on a 2.5 Marla plot. Under Pakistan's Qisas and Diyat Laws Murderers and rapists can seek forgiveness by compensating the
families of victims.
On the date of the court statements Zubair Janjua, solicitor for Badil Masih could not appear in the court because of Bar Elections in Faisalabad and
sent his assistant. Despite pressure from the Faisalabad Sessions Judge Muhammad Yusaf Ajula who tried to make Sharifah also record a statement
she argued for a postponement till her solicitor was able to attend.
Sharifah Bibi, has spoken about the events in court, she said:
“Both the witnesses perverted their statements.
"Their complicity with Badil's murderers has broken me.
"No mother should see times like this when the known murderers of her son will be set free by the courts.
"Police inactivity has led to this situation – there can be no justice for Christians in Pakistan."
Sharifah Bibi is a patient of diabetes and her ailing health is getting worse. Her eye sight is also failing and she is struggling to care for a 10
year old son. Sharifah and her solicitor are discussing best options going forward. Considering the loss of material witnesses and the
lack of desire for police to take action this may include accepting compensation – if it is believed that the murder trial will not be successful.
The money and the home could provide an education for her remaining son and a safe place for them to live the rest of their lives. It would also hopefully
bring and end to the threats made to her and her witnesses for which Police are providing little protection. Moreover, it will bring some closure
to the situation, not the closure that we would prefer but one that is often the only alternative in Pakistan where justice is so difficult to get
in many cases.
Juliet Chowdhry, said:
"The lack of eyewitnesses in this murder case in which the perpetrators have already had bail for over a year, has reduced our confidence of getting justice.
"The murder of a 10 year-old boy in Pakistan has received little attention from Pakistani police and the courts, illustrating the low value attributed to Christians in the nation.
"Shareefa and her solicitor will now have to make a decision on how they proceed with this matter and we ask Christians to pray for her to make the right choices."
Whatever Shareefa decides BACA continues to pay solicitor fees for Shareefa and a maintenance payment while this process reaches a conclusion. Please help us meet the costs for the persecuted Christians we support in Pakistan by clicking (here)