Christian man brutally hacked to death in Pakistan

The body of a Christian man who was hacked to death in Pakistan has been paraded through the streets in protest at the police's refusal to act.

Nazeer Masih, 55, was attacked with an iron rod and a chopping knife on April 6, leaving him battered with a cut throat. Masih, a Christian, was with a Muslim friend at the time who was left seriously injured by the attack.

A statement from the British-Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) said a dispute had arisen between Masih and his two attackers after he told them to leave young Christians in his village alone. It is understood the attackers were drug dealers who had tried to persuade local Christians to take drugs.

When other locals and family members arrived at the scene Masih was already dead, but despite the incident being reported to local police immediately, no action was taken.

Masih's body was then taken by local Christians to the nearby G T Road, one of Asia's oldest major roads. After a demonstration which lasted several hours, police agreed to file a report and investigate the incident.

One local pastor, Alfred Azam, said it was not the first incident of persecution in the village.

"Before and after our church services Muslim drug dealers swarm around our church trying to sell drugs to our vulnerable youth," Azam said.

"When our older men tell these criminals to leave our young people alone they get killed."

The BPCA has appealed for the UK government to review its approach to Pakistani refugees on the basis of such persecution.

Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the BPCA, said: "Often Pakistani Christian asylum applications to the UK are denied on the basis that Christians are offered a police service and have a judicial system set up to protect them.

"Yet in this case, once again we have evidence of a corrupt and poorly administered rule of law that is biased against the deprived Christian community.

"Britain has to review its current home office policy towards Pakistani-Christians. The risk profile for such asylum seekers is based on the false premise that a developed law and order mechanism operates in Pakistan. This simply is not true."

The charity has also appealed for donations to support Masih's family.