Pakistan: Christian couple lynching: Family refuses to accept state as complainant

The family of a Christian couple which was lynched and later burnt by a mob over alleged blasphemy has refused to accept the police or the state as complainant in the FIR and filed a petition in the Kasur sessions court seeking to become complainant in the case. Sajjad Masih and his wife Shama Bibi – brick kiln workers from Chak-59 of Kot Radha Kishan, Kasur – were brutally killed for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran. “We don’t accept the FIR. While we are alive, we should be allowed to become the complainant,” said Mukhtiar Masih, father of the late Shama Bibi. In the FIR, a police official – SI Muhammad Ali from the Chowki Factory area of Kot Radha Kishan – is named as the complainant.

On Friday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Kamran Michael as the focal person in the case. “We don’t recognise the police official or the minister as true complainant,” Mukhtiar Masih told The Express Tribune. “The police official may be approached by the accused and may be offered favours. On the other hand, the minister represents the government and we doubt the government will pursue this case whole-heartedly,” he added.

The court admitted the petition for hearing on November 10 (Monday).

Aneeqa M Anthony, the lawyer who filed the petition and is providing legal assistance to the family, said that every offense in the country is against the state, which can become party but it cannot deny the right of an aggrieved family to become complainant in a case. “This is why we have filed the petition in the court. Moreover, we want some more information to be included in the FIR,” she added. “What will happen to the case if the police official gets transferred or backs off?”

Another legal expert Azhar Siddiq said it was the right of the accused to become complainant and party in the case. He said the government could not deny the family this right.

Federal Minister Kamran Michael said at the time of the incident local Christian community leaders and rights activists had a consensus that the police should become complainant in this case.

“Sometimes people are pressurised to withdraw such cases or they make compromise. The prime minister wants to make an example of the culprits. But if the family has gone to the court and the court gives any direction in this regard, then we will comply,” he added.