PESHAWAR: Two members of a Christian family in Pakistan have been shot dead for allegedly buying houses in a Muslim area. Nadeem Joseph and his wife, Elizabeth Masi, were shot dead by extremists for allegedly buying houses in a Muslim colony in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Neighbor Salman Khan was angry that the Christian family had come to live near his home. A month ago, Nadeem Joseph bought a house in a TV colony in Peshawar.
On June 4, Salman Khan and his son, who was living opposite the house Joseph bought, threatened them to leave home within 24 hours. In a video recorded at a hospital in Peshawar, Joseph disclosed that the assailants had fired when they called the police helpline. Joseph was shot in the stomach and Elizabeth Macy’s left shoulder. While in the hospital, Joseph was worried about his life and the safety of his family.
Wazirzada, an official from the Minority Affairs Department, said that the culprits had fled to the Punjab province and a police team was sent to arrest them. Jamshed Thomas, a member of the Pakistan National Assembly, has visited Joseph’s family and condemned the atrocity. In Pakistan, a Muslim majority country, Christians are treated as second-class citizens. Most of the 40 million Pakistani Christians live in slums. The accusation that the government is not doing anything to prevent or at least improve violence against religious minority Christians is strong from the start.
