Pakistani Christian Man Dies After Being Shot For Buying House in Muslim Area

Accused murderer Salman Khan is on the run and is wanted by police.

Funeral of Nadeem Joseph Photos: Twitter

(Peshawar, PAKISTAN) - A Pakistani Christian man who was shot by his Muslim neighbor almost a month ago has died.

Nadeem Joseph bought a house in Swati Phatak, TV Colony in Peshawar on June 4. Just a few days later, Salman Khan and his sons set upon Nadeem and his mother-in-law Elizabeth Masih, spraying them with bullets and leaving Nadeem in critical condition.

Mr. Joseph was admitted to the hospital after the brutal attack, but died June 29th, 2020 after multiple surgeries.

In a video message from Nadeem Joseph, he claimed Salman Khan had been harassing him since the day he moved to the colony.

Nadeem said Khan repeatedly called he and his family pejorative terms like “chooras”, and badly damaged the doors of their house, demanding that they leave the area.

According to Nadeem's own account before he was attacked, Khan had claimed the neighborhood was "for Muslims only", and a Christian family "did not belong there".

Despite several members of Khan‘s family being arrested in connection with the incident, he still remains on the run, and the police are hunting him.

“Atrocities against Christians continue to rise in Pakistan, and law enforcement authorities hardly take any action while the government turns a blind eye to all these atrocities," said Nasir Saeed, Director CLAAS-UK.

“It is unbelievable that in the 21st century, a Pakistani Christian family were shot for buying a house in a Muslim Area.

“It is true that there are several areas in the country where non-Muslims are not allowed to buy a house and in some areas non-Muslims are not even allowed to rent a house.

“Such hateful treatment towards non-Muslims in Pakistan is now an everyday matter.”

On February 25th of this year, a Christian man, 22-year old Saleem Masih, a labourer from Baguyana village, Kasur District, was brutally tortured to death for washing himself at a well belonging to a Muslim landowner.

When the owner of the well, Sher Dogar, discovered he was a Christian, he began to beat Masih with a stick, shouting anti-Christian slurs.

Masih was dragged to a cattle farm and beaten with sticks and iron rods with his hands tied and feet chained. His captors rolled a thick iron rod over his whole body, causing multiple fractures in his ribs and left arm. After being tortured for hours, Masih fell unconscious from the pain. His family took him to General Hospital but three days after the assault he succumbed to his injuries.

“Although the police have made arrests, I have heard that family is being pressured to settle matters with the perpetrators as they are rich and influential," added Mr Saeed.

“There are many such cases, that do not get reported. Pakistani Muslim society has become more intolerant than ever and living as a Christian is becoming harder than ever.”

Source: Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS)