Death of Christian celebrated in Pakistan; murder suspect released on bail

LAHORE, Pakistan — About 2,500 people attended a rally to show their support for the lynching of a Christian, and just days later a judge granted bail to 52 people suspected of involvement in the man’s death.

The Islamist extremist Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan organized a rally in Sargodha on June 9 in support of the killing of Nazeer Masih Gill, the Christian Daily International and Morning Star News reported.

Falsely accused of desecrating the Quran, 74-year-old Gill was brutally beaten, stoned and kicked by a Muslim mob on May 25. He died ten days later.

The police report named 40 suspects and hundreds of unidentified participants.

“Calculated” attack?

On June 13, a judge in Sargodha admitted to intelligence agencies that about 52 murder defendants were released on bail, including three people named in the police report.

Lawyer Asad Jamal is convinced that the police deliberately conducted sloppy investigations. Jamal, who is Muslim, “was part of a fact-finding mission of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, which described Gill’s lynching as a ‘calculated attack manipulated by religious zeal to gain maximum influence,'” the intelligence services said.

Pakistan ranks 7th on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places for Christians.