Christian Man and Daughter Beaten and Threatened at Gunpoint To Renounce Christ and Convert to Islam, or Else – Legal Protection Now Secured

Our affiliate office in Pakistan recently obtained police protection for a young Christian man, Yasir Masih, and his two children from a group of Muslims who were using violent threats in an attempt to force them to convert to Islam.

This all began when Yasir Masih’s wife, Komal, left him and their two children in January 2022 and eloped with a Muslim man, Nauman Ali. At that time, Yasir’s daughter was three years old and son was six months old.

A few months later, Yasir began receiving phone calls and was told that his wife, Komal, had converted to Islam. The callers threatened Yasir, telling him to convert to Islam or he would be killed. Despite the threats of violence against him, Yasir remained steadfast in his Christian faith and refused to convert.

Around July 14, 2022, a group of Muslim men, including Nauman Ali and his Muslim accomplice Abdul Rehman, came to Yasir’s house in the middle of the night, put a gun to his head, and demanded that he convert to Islam. Still, Yasir did not convert. It was only when some of Yasir’s neighbors gathered near his home because of the late-night disruption, that the men threatening Yasir finally left.

The threatening phone calls, however, did not stop, and Nauman Ali and Abdul Rehman escalated their threatening tactics.

In September 2022, Abdul Rehman, Nauman Ali, and another man named Zulfiqar kidnapped Yasir and his young daughter. They put them in a car and brought them to Abdul Rehman’s house. There were over 100 Muslim men gathered, likely from a Muslim religious group. They beat Yasir and threatened him to accept Islam or they would kill him and his daughter. One of the men grabbed Yasir’s three-year-old daughter’s arm and asked her if she wanted to live with her mother or father. The little girl tearfully answered that she wanted to live with her “papa and Jesus papa.” The man was angered by her answer and pulled the little girl’s arm so hard that it dislocated her shoulder, and then he slapped her - a terrified three-year-old girl. A little while later, however, they let Yasir and his daughter leave.

Yasir went to the police, but the police refused to take any action.

Fearing for his and his children’s lives, Yasir left his home and began staying with different friends and relatives. He and his children had been sleeping at a friend’s shop for a while when that friend brought him to our affiliate office in Pakistan.

Our team immediately found a safe house for Yasir and his children and sent several requests for help to higher officials, including the Ministry of Interior, the Inspector General of Punjab, Home Secretary, and the Ministry of Human Rights. The application sought protection for Yasir and his children.

Ten days later, Yasir received a call from the Inspector General’s office telling him that his case had been assigned through the government’s human rights office to the local police station to be handled on an urgent basis.

Our team went to the police station where Nauman Ali, Abdul Rehman, and their accomplices were also summoned. The police obtained a written statement from all the accused that they will not harass, threaten, or harm Yasir. The accused were told that strict legal action would be taken if they threatened or harmed Yasir.

As soon as the written statement was signed, our team of lawyers in Pakistan accompanied Yasir and his children back to their home. Due to the nature of the case, the religious groups involved, and the reality of the legal system in Pakistan, this was the best case scenario for this Christian father and children. Our team is staying in touch with Yasir and will pursue legal action if he or his children are threatened again.

We also thank the higher government officials in Pakistan who took immediate action to protect this family. We hope and pray that more and more government officials and police officers stand up for the right thing, regardless of their religious affiliations, and uphold the Pakistani Constitution, which provides protection for religious minorities.