LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- The body of a Christian teenager has been hauled out of a canal in Pakistan's second largest city Lahore after he was beaten to death there for courting a Muslim girl, BosNewsLife learned Friday, July 18.
The 19-year-old boy, whose name was changed into Peter for security reasons, was murdered by the girl's father and two uncles in what they described as an 'honour killing', Christian family members and investigators said.
Peter and the 19-year-old girl apparently began their relationship through mobile phone chatting, an increasingly popular way of communicating among youngsters across Asia.
Interfaith contacts and marriages between Christians and Muslims are allowed under Islamic law, but such relationships are often opposed by Islamic clerics and hard-line Muslims, according to religious rights investigators.
Not quite true. Muslim men may marry non-Muslim women, but a non-Muslim man must convert to Islam in order to marry a Muslim woman.
The troubles for Peter apparently began when the girl's family forced her to call him and invite the boy to a secluded location. Peter reportedly immediately hired a motorbike to reach the area, but he would not find his girlfriend. Instead, her father and two uncles awaited the boy and allegedly beat him to death.
"They took Peter by force. They trussed him and tortured him for almost two days. Peter could not bear the severity of the torture and died eventually," said Joseph Francis, who leads rights group Center for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), which gives legal support to reportedly persecuted Christians in Pakistan. The Muslim family could not be reached for comment.
CLAAS lawyers say police have so far rejected to register the case as murder and are describing it as suicide. "The police were prejudiced, because it was a matter of religion," Francis added. CLAAS made clear it would try to seek justice for Peter's family in a local court.
Murder as a matter of religion - nothing for the police to be concerned about.
"Sadly, all too often, Christians in Pakistan are treated as substandard citizens with few civil liberties under the law,” the group said in a statement. "That prejudice is [reflected] by the obvious negative response by police. [We want] to see that [they are] impartial, regardless of religion." The group said it had urged supporters to "pray for Peter's family" and for "awareness" among to end "dividing human beings in different classes."...
