A 70-year-old Christian man’s refusal to sell his home in Pakistan prompted Muslim arsonists to burn down the property while everyone inside, including his daughter and four-year-old grandson, were sleeping.
The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), a group that combats Christian persecution, has reported the details of the crime, in which no one was fatally injured.
Four Muslim men forced their way into the Christian home and gang-raped the 25-year-old homeowner’s daughter “with threats to leave their family property which was adjacent to home of culprits,” notes Pakistan Christian Post.
Rehmat Masih, the owner of the Christian home and father of the rape victim, Sajida, “knocked every door for justice to lodge report [sic] against Muslim rapists but due to their influence and contact in government none was ready to register case against them,” it continues.
Local police have allegedly been reluctant to take the rape seriously, refusing to charge the rapist, according to BPCA.
“We have done nothing wrong, we have simply continued to practice our faith and that has made us pariahs in the local community. Local Muslims hate Christians they believe we are vermin — rats that should be eradicated,” Rehmat told BPCA.
“My daughter has suffered so much, when I think what these men have done to her my heart fills with sorrow and anger,” he added. “But I know I need not seek vengeance our God will judge these men one day for all they have done. Our God will protect us he will make our lives whole again.”
Rehmat believes some of the Muslim men who have been sending death threats for refusing to sell his property played a role in the arson attack, adding that “they had formed a local land mafia gang and were frightening other Christians too.”
“This family have suffered greatly because it is so easy to target Christians. The country of Pakistan has become inhospitable for Christians we have no hope left but our God,” declared Naveed Aziz of BPCA. “I visit victim after victim and was a victim myself when men were arrested during the Lahore twin church attack – we all have similar accounts of violence against us.”
Rehmat’s family continues to refuse to leave their home, which has been handed down within the family for generations.
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