Rasheed Masih in handcuffs on blasphemy prices in Okara District, Punjab Province, Pakistan. (Christian Day by day Worldwide-Morning Star Information)
LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Day by day Worldwide–Morning Star Information) – A Christian in Pakistan with psychological well being points has been arrested and charged underneath blasphemy, terrorism and sedition legal guidelines, sources stated.
Police arrested Rasheed Masih, 48, on Aug. 6 and on allegations that he supposed to incite spiritual tensions by recording a video in opposition to Islam and the federal government. Officers charged him underneath sections 295-A and 298 of the blasphemy regulation, 124-A associated to sedition and Part 9 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, stated his son Nabeel Rasheed of Hujra Shah Muqeem in Okara District, Punjab Province.
Masih has suffered from extreme melancholy for the final two to 3 years after failing to get justice from the federal government and different entities, Rasheed stated.
“He labored as a sanitary employee in a rural well being middle together with my mom Najma Rasheed, however he was focused with false accusations when he raised his voice in opposition to corruption and theft of presidency assets by the Muslim employees members,” Nabeel Rasheed informed Christian Day by day Worldwide-Morning Star Information. “His Muslim colleagues had been additionally against him when he turned down their makes an attempt to transform him to Islam.”
As an alternative of taking motion on his complaints, the well being division transferred him to different areas and later terminated his companies in January 2018, Nabeel Rasheed stated. Masih filed a petition within the Lahore Excessive Court docket in addition to the Punjab ombudsperson’s workplace in opposition to his unjust firing, however his pleas for justice fell on deaf ears, he stated.
Litigation prices and unemployment resulted in a extreme monetary disaster for the Masih household.
“The scenario reached some extent the place our mother and father may not afford schooling for his or her three youngsters – two sons and a daughter,” Nabeel Rasheed stated. “This disaster impacted Masih’s psychological well being, plunging him into extreme melancholy.”
They took him to the psychological well being unit of Lahore Normal Hospital for remedy and later admitted him within the Punjab Institute for Psychological Well being, however he continued to endure bouts of melancholy, he stated.
“My father is an effective man, however he has suffered lots on account of his Christian religion,” he stated. “Individuals who have nurtured grudges in opposition to him over time for exposing their wrongdoings have conspired to implicate him within the false case, benefiting from his psychological well being situation.”
Nabeel Rasheed stated his mom additionally has been focused with frequent transfers to far-flung areas and withholding of wage for months.
“That is the worth we’re persevering with to pay as a household for my father’s stance in opposition to the corrupt system,” he stated.
Masih is a religious Christian dedicated to upholding fact and serving humanity no matter their spiritual backgrounds, Nabeel Rasheed stated, including, “He’s a sufferer of the system and deserves sympathy.”
Christian lawyer Lazar Allah Rakha stated there are authorized provisions for psychological sickness in blasphemy instances, together with the madness protection underneath Part 84 of the Pakistan Penal Code and the lack to be tried if of “unsound thoughts” underneath Part 464 of the Code of Legal Process.
“Nevertheless, there’s a important hole between these legal guidelines and their software in follow, as psychological sickness is usually not a profitable protection, and people are nonetheless susceptible to vigilante justice and prosecution because of the robust social and political pressures surrounding blasphemy legal guidelines,” stated Rakha, who has efficiently defended a number of individuals falsely charged with blasphemy.
Furthermore, Pakistan’s psychological well being system is under-resourced, and psychological well being remains to be a stigmatized problem, making it tough to make sure correct assessments and remedy for defendants, he added.
Pakistan ranked eighth on Open Doorways’ 2025 World Watch Record of the 50 international locations the place it’s most tough to be a Christian.
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