A Christian man experienced a public beating when he eloped and married a Muslim woman, after they fell in love.
To get married Sikander William had to imitate conversion to Islam, as no Christian Pastor dared to marry a Christian man to a Muslim woman.
It is illegal to have sexual relations in Pakistan without marriage and the Christian man had his own Christian conscience about such matters, he felt he had no other alternative.
Later the Muslim parents Mariyam forced the relatives of Mr William from his home and threatened to kill them if the family did not bring the couple to them.
After capturing the Christian man he was beaten with a chappel (sandal) while his hands were tied behind his back. The beating was for reconverting to Christianity after his marriage.
Evidence exists that a sitting Pakistani Parliamentarian’s home was used as a torture room and that her husband was involved in the kidnapping and violence.
A panchayat unofficial village council of elders) then called for the husband and wife to be murdered on the second day of Eid.
A video of the beating went viral; mob of hundreds including children can be seen calling for the lynching of the Christian man, who is accused of rejecting Islam.
Sikander William(19 yrs) fell in love with a young Muslim woman Mariyam (19 yrs) a neighbour who lived opposite his parental home, in Allumahar Village. Mariyam felt the same.
On 12th April 2023, the couple eloped to Karachi to be married with the help of a distant relative of Mr.William.
On 13th April around 8am senior members of Mariyam’s family, along with a mob of local Muslims from the village arrived at the house of Mr William. Mr William’s mother Naseem Bibi (65 yrs) and two of her daughters-in-law were present. The enraged Muslim mob asked for the whereabouts of Mr William and Mariyam. But none of the Christians knew where the couple had fled.
The mob threatened not to leave the house till the couple returned. They threatened to burn the house to the ground and kill the brothers of Mr. William if their demands were not met. The mother remained in the house while the two daughters-in-law ran to the house of a nearby aunt of Mr William and informed them about the threat to their family. From there the husbands of the two women were called from work and joined by an uncle they returned to their family home and engaged with the Muslim mob. During discussions it was agreed that one of Mr Mr William’s older brothers Zafar along with a Muslim community leader named Muhammad Ismail would find the couple so that details of their disappearance could be clarified.
The family visited and called relatives in nearby cities to find out if they knew were Mr. William was residing. Eventually, a relative in Karachi had stated Mr Wiliam’s and his wife were staying at their home. Zafar sold his cattle to fund a trip to Karachi, he was accompanied by Muhammad Ismail a representative for the family of Mariyam and a community leader.
They discovered that the couple were in Karachi arranging a court marriage which took place on 15th April.
On 16th April, Muhammad Ismail and Zafar arrived at the address of the newly married couple. The two men met with them and persuaded them to return back to Allamuhar. Zafar explained that his family had been turfed out of their own home until the couple returned, he also explained that threats had been made that he and his elder brother Francis would be killed, without a return of the couple. Mr Ismail garnered confidence in the couple by telling them he would be under their protection and that the family wanted to see that Mariyam was safe. He even informed Mr William that the marriage was legitimate because of his conversion to Islam.
On 19th April around 4pm the couple accompanied by Mr Ismail and Zafar arrived at Motra station. Unbeknownst to Zafar and the couple Mr Ismail had called some cohorts in Allumahar who met the arriving party at the train station.
Senior members of the local Muslim community had already planned to investigate and punish Sikander for eloping with a Muslim woman. The small mob took the couple and Zafar in a van to the home of sitting Member of National Assembly Nosheen Zahir. At the home of the Parliamentarian a large mob of Muslims had gathered. The crowd started beating and abusing Mr William. Then a Mr Almat Ul Hassan, Mr Shah, Mr Muhammad Bashir and other wealthy senior members of the local Muslim community publicly humiliated Mr William calling him a chura (translates as detritus and is used as an insult for Christians), beating and spitting on him in front of his wife and family members.
Zafar has spoken about the ordeal in the house of the MNA, he explained:
“Mr Bashir and Mr Ul Hassan Shah are close relatives of Miss Zahir, they played a key role in enraging Muslims against my brother.
“Initially, when I saw that we were entering the home of an MNA I thought we were safe.
“She is a public figure and this gave me confidence, I learned the true nature of Pakistani politicians soon after.”
Mrs Gulshan Barkat (40 yrs) an aunt of Mr. William, shared details of the attack, she said:
“They beat my nephew brutally.
“They cut his hair and abused him verbally.
“I had no idea what they planned to do, I thought they would kill Sikander, I was at my wits end.”
At the house Mr William and Mariyam were quizzed on what had happened between them she admitted that she had married under consent.
After about 2 hours at the home of the parliamentarian Mr William and his family were taken to a public village council meeting, held at a square. Hundreds of Muslims had gathered there and were baying for Mr William’s death. By this time Mariyam had been in the control of her parents for some while. She at this point changed her story and stated that she had been kidnapped.
At this point the mob in the panchayat began beating Zafar and Mr William. Both men were spat at, insulted and suffered severe violence.
Mrs Gulshan Barkat, added:
“The panchayat brought my nephews to a public square and humiliated them.
“It was distressing to watch, I cried and screamed for them to stop, but no-one was listening.
“The severe beating caused a knee fracture for my nephew Zafar and Sikander passed out at one point.
“Hundreds of Muslims watched the violence all of them called for his death, not one valued human life.”
“They brought both the boys back to the house of Mr Shah where they called us for a conversation.
“My brother, Chanan Barkat the uncle of Sikander along with some other elders of the community arrived at the house.
“We were told that they will kill the couple in front of the whole village after the second day of Eid (23rd April)
“We argued that if Zafar was to be killed so should the daughter who had agreed to the marriage, we hoped this would change their decision – they agreed to this to our shock and dismay.”
Fortunately, the family of Mariyam then negotiated with panchayat leaders, who altered their decision later in the conversation. They decided to hand over Mariyam to her parents and set-free the Christian brothers from their captivity and released them to their family.
Zafar was taken to a Government hospital for treatment where the doctors diagnosed a dislocation of the knee cap due to the severe beating and a small fracture. He was given treatment and Zafar then went to the house of his in-laws in Sialkot for safety.
Someone from the Muslim mob filmed the violent public beating of Mr William at the hands of Mr Ismail and it went viral on social media. Though it was meant to garner Muslim hatred for Mr William, it also developed a defensive response amongst Christians.
As the video gained momentum, the Christian community protested on social media over the visible pernicious inhuman treatment of Mr William. A call was made to the police and on 24th April; an officer from Motra Police Station arrested Mr Ismail, who confessed his crime under police interrogation. The police then registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Mr Ismail with charges under 342 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). But they seem intent on presiding over a compromise decision.
On 28th April, BACA visited the family and offered them a safe house, medical treatment and legal help if they needed it. Mr William has now already been paced into a safe house far from his village as death threats became more severe and increased while he stayed at his parental home.
British Asian Christian Association, has now also paid all of the medical costs for Zafar and for Mr William. They have offered a solicitor to fight a criminal prosecution against Mr Ismail, but the family look likely to accept a compromise deal for their safety which the solicitor will oversee. Our support for this family is expensive and without the support of our donors we would not be in a position to help. If you have been moved by this account and would like to support our work you can donate (here).
Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for British Asian Christian Association, said:
“Mr William is a Christian and fell in love with a Muslim girl.
“Though it is not a crime in the west and arguably not in Pakistan either by either statute or case law, the nation does have Panchayat laws.
“Panchayat’s are unofficial courts run by community elders, neither trained in the law or to a clerical level for the Islamic faith.
“Leaders can make decisions to kill criminals, cut of limbs, remove eyes or use many other types of violence and communities have to accept their decision.
“These gatherings are a dangerous sub-level of the justice system of Pakistan, that are not regulated.
“The supreme court of Pakistan has now outlawed the practice (click here) but the Government of Pakistan must now ensure that authorities establish and uphold this new law.
“It is unacceptable that untrained leaders can decide to kill people who married with consent.”
