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A Pakistani Catholic was beaten to death by hospital staff after he objected to his pregnant sister being slapped.
The attack has been condemned by the country’s church leaders.
Suneel Saleem, 34, was critically injured when about 20 security guards and 14 doctors punched and attacked him and other family members with batons, chairs and belts.
Aneel Saleem, a brother of the deceased who was also attacked, said he and other family members received internal injuries and called the police.
“The ribs and legs of Suneel were fractured. He fainted and later died in the same hospital.”
Local police have registered a murder case against five doctors and a number of the hospital’s security guards.
“The sudden increase in incidents of violence and intolerance have reached an alarming level,” a statement from the National Commission for Justice and Peace says.
The National Commission is part of the bishops’ conference.
The statement says doctors are responsible for giving care and support to a patient and treating them with respect regardless of their class, colour or creed.
“A doctor’s responsibility is to save lives and not take lives,” Commission chairman Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad says.
Church officials have demanded the Chief Minister of the Punjab province bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
“Justice must be served to the poor family of Suneel,” Father Emmanuel Yousaf Mani, the Commission’s national director says.
“The government and concerned departments should take strong measures to ensure that such tragic incidents do not occur in the future.”
Only 2 percent of Pakistan’s population are Catholic.
They face constant discrimination from the country’s Muslim majority.
The country’s anti-blasphemy laws often see religious minorities accused of blaspheming Islam to settle private land or family disputes.
Source
- UCA News
- Crux Now
- Image: Vatican News
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