A Christian pastor and his father were brutally beaten by a mob of 50 people in Pakistan on October 19th over a property dispute which is in the process of hearing at the court. The mob also beat other family members including women.
Michael Robert, who pastors a Seventh Day Adventist Church in Farooqabad, and his father Robert Masih were admitted to hospital after the attack. They had sustained injuries on the head, back of body and limbs.
The attackers fired shots in the air outside the house to scare residents so that they do not intervene, and barged into the house. A neighbor called the police who arrived at the scene and took the situation under control.
Morning Star News reported that the perpetrators ransacked the whole house and broke utensils and threw household things including furniture outside.
The mob was led by Abdul Hameed Gadhi who claimed that the property belonged to him.
Robert had purchased the house several years ago, but two years ago it was transferred to Gadhi's name, which Michael's family says is a fraudulent act. They filed a lawsuit in the court over the property, for which a restraining order has been issued to let the family stay in the house until the court pronounces a verdict.
Michael's father says that he has the stamp papers for the payment he made to the owner of the house along with the agreement of sale. But the owner sold the property to Haadi, as well, two years ago and made registration in his name.
The court has imposed a stay in the case till the evidence in the dispute is not established.
The Christian family also claimed that the police harassed them on behalf of Gadhi, even after the court issued the stay.
After last week's incident, the police locked up the house because they said it was a disputed property. However, the family says that it was a violation of court's restraining order to allow them to live in the house until the ownership dispute is resolved.
