Tortured Pakistani Christian Languishing on False Charges

June 24, 2009 – 3:51 pm

Police maneuver to keep incapacitated son of preacher in jail - and out of hospital

CDN:

LAHORE, Pakistan, June 23 - 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 Allama Iqbal Memorial Hospital in Sialkot on Saturday (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 that 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. The elder Masih told Compass that 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 Masih remanded to them for a robbery case filed against “unidentified people.”

Gujranwala police also threatened to kill Masih in a staged police encounter if he told the court that he had been tortured, according to CDI.

Read entire article.

Please pray for Arshad as he endures pain and ridicule from his captors.

Pray that he will not shrink back, but that God will guard his faith and that he will persevere (Hebrews 10:39).

Pray also that he will look to Jesus, the founder and perfector of his faith, and will run with endurrance the race set before him (12:1-2).

And while you’re praying for Arshad, pray that God will give you opportunities to be a partner with those who are suffering (10:33). They are around us, we just need to take the time to notice.