By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

ISLAMABAD (Worthy News) – The “brutal killing of Shamron Masih,” a mentally disabled Christian man in the Motra area of Pakistan’s Sialkot district, has sparked “widespread outrage across Pakistan’s Christian community,” Christian human rights investigators said Wednesday.

“His death, and the alleged failure of local police to take action, has once again highlighted the deep-rooted persecution of Christians in Pakistan, a mainly Muslim nation,” said Mushtaq Sardar Gill.

There is also a “culture of impunity that protects powerful perpetrators while silencing the victims,” added Gill, the founder of Christian rights group LEAD Ministries Pakistan.

Shamron Masih had reportedly entered agricultural land owned by two influential Muslim landlords—Rana Muhammad Ashraf and Rana Muhammad Anwar—to relieve himself. In rural Pakistan, this is a common practice due to the lack of sanitation infrastructure, “and is neither illegal nor uncommon,” Gill explained.

However, the landlords had allegedly threatened Shamron’s family in advance, warning them that if Shamron trespassed on their land again, he would be killed.

In September, Shamron went missing. “His family, knowing his mental condition, searched tirelessly, hoping he had simply wandered off. But weeks later, they were informed by a local resident that a body had been found in the same fields owned by the landlords. When the family arrived, they made a horrifying discovery: Shamron’s body had been partially buried—his head was buried in the ground, while the rest of his body remained exposed,” Gill recalled.

‘SHOCKING CONDITION’

The “shocking condition” of the body strongly suggested a violent and deliberate killing, he said. “Yet, according to local sources, no action was taken by the police. The family was reportedly threatened and intimidated into silence, and to this day, no First Information Report (FIR),” needed to launch a criminal investigation, “has been registered,” he added. “Neither the Motra Police Station nor the Sialkot District Police Office has issued any public statement regarding the murder,” Gill stressed.

Christian leaders and human rights advocates have condemned both the killing and the police’s perceived inaction.

Pastor Imran Amanat of LEAD Ministries called Shamron’s death a “cold-blooded murder” and described the silence of law enforcement as not just negligence, but a deliberate suppression of justice. “There is no FIR, no investigation, and no accountability,” he said. “This silence speaks volumes about the treatment of minorities in Pakistan.”

Gill said the case is “indicative of a broader pattern of abuse faced by Christians” in Pakistan. “What happened to Shamron is not an isolated incident. Christian families across Pakistan live in fear—harassed, threatened, and sometimes killed. The system does not protect them. It protects their abusers,” he added.

Christians, who comprise less than two percent of Pakistan’s population of more than 240 million people, remain among the country’s most persecuted religious minorities, according to human rights groups.

They often face discrimination at nearly every level—from forced conversions and false blasphemy charges to mob violence and targeted killings, Worthy News documented. “In rural areas like Sialkot, the power held by feudal landlords, combined with police complicity or fear, leaves Christian families virtually defenseless,” Gill observed.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROMISES

Despite constitutional promises of religious freedom and equal rights, minorities often find the law does not work for them, the human rights lawyer noted. “In Shamron’s case, the lack of a police report, the disturbing circumstances of his death, and the pressure placed on his grieving family make one fact painfully clear: justice is not just delayed—it is denied entirely,” Gill complained.

LEAD Ministries and other Christian rights organizations have demanded the registration of an FIR, a full and independent investigation, the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators, and protection for Shamron’s family.

They also urge national and international human rights bodies “to speak out and pressure Pakistani authorities to end this ongoing persecution.”

Shamron Masih’s death “must not be buried with him. His life mattered,” Gill said.

Police did not immediately comment.

Pakistan ranks high on the annual Open Doors World Watch List of 50 countries where it says Christians face the most severe persecution for their faith.

Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.

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