by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Twenty-year-old Farhan Ul Qamar was killed on Nov. 9 when his neighbor Muhammad Zubair broke into his home in Talwandi Inayat Khan village, Pasrur tehsil of Sialkot District, and shot him dead with a pistol, MSN reports.
In a statement to MSN, Farhan’s brother Shahan Ul Qamar said:
“Farhan was training to be a laboratory technician and was a humble soul, and we are clueless as to why Zubair trespassed in our home in the dark of the night and killed him.”
“Though we have been living in this village for over 100 years, the attitude of some Muslims have been prejudicial towards us because of our Christian faith,” Ul Qamar said. Zubair was arrested the next day, and the police have said they will investigate, but no motive for the murder has been forthcoming so far.
In a separate statement, Attorney Lazar Allah Rakha called for a thorough and fair investigation into the killing, not least in light of the persecution faced by Christians in Pakistan. “Government and police officials need to take notice of growing incidents of violence against religious minorities in Punjab, especially Christians,” Rakha said. “It’s also important that speedy justice is delivered to the victims, and the perpetrators are punished according to the law so that the minorities can feel safe in this country.”
Ruled by an Islamic extremist authoritarian government, Pakistan ranks 7th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.