13-year-old suffers burns after professing faith

A 13 year-old boy sustained burns to 55% of his body after he identified himself as a Christian and was set alight by two men in Lahore in the Punjab province of Pakistan on 10 April.

Initial reports indicate that 13 year-old Noman Masih was in a market in Gulshan Ravi, Lahore on 10 April, when he got into a conversation with two men on a motorbike. They assaulted him and threw petrol and set him on fire when they found out that he was Christian.

Noman is said to be in critical condition with burns to 55 percent of his body. Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab, has called for the perpetrators to be arrested.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), said, “Our thoughts are with Noman Masih and his family as we pray for his recovery. That this deplorable attack on a child was triggered by a simple profession of faith is deeply worrying. CSW urges the Pakistani Government to ensure that the perpetrators of this attack are apprehended and that the right to freedom of religion or belief, guaranteed in international treaties to which Pakistan is party, is upheld. A culture of impunity must end if religious minorities are to be guaranteed their rights as citizens in Pakistan.”