Interfaith Couple Found Murdered in Pakistan, Igniting Debate
By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
KARACHI, PAKISTAN (Worthy News) – The bodies of a young interfaith couple were discovered in southeastern Pakistan after Muslim family members protested against the marriage of the Muslim woman to a Christian, sources told Worthy News on Tuesday.
Sana Asif Warraich, a Muslim woman, and her Christian husband, Sajid Masih, were shot and killed near the China Port area of Karachi, the capital of Pakistan’s Sindh province, said Sardar Mushtaq Gill, a prominent Christian human rights lawyer.
“The circumstances surrounding their deaths strongly suggest an honor killing — a crime often committed to restore perceived family or community ‘honor’ that is believed to have been tarnished by such relationships,” Gill added.
Gill, the founder of Christian advocacy and aid group LEAD Ministries Pakistan, said the couple who were in their 20s disappeared on July 15, before their bodies were discovered on Monday.
No arrests were reported Tuesday, but Gill and other sources said there were strong indications that the woman’s family was involved in the killings. There was no immediate reaction from police or family members.
“The couple had reportedly eloped after facing severe opposition from the girl’s family due to their differing religious backgrounds,” Gill explained.
Before the murder, the Muslim family of Sana Asif had filed a complaint [with the police] against Sajid Masih, accusing him of abducting their daughter,” he told Worthy News.
POLICE REPORT
Despite evidence to the contrary, the family had filed a “First Information Report (FIR) at Police Station Tatlay Aali” in the Gujranwala District of Punjab province under “abduction charges.”
In Pakistan, an FIR is needed to launch criminal proceedings. However, human rights sources claim the relationship between Sajid and Sana “was consensual.”
Gill said they had fled Pakistan’s Punjab province to neighboring Sindh province “due to fear of violence from the girl’s family and societal backlash.”
He called it a “deeply troubling incident that has drawn national concern” about the issue of honor killings in Pakistan, an Islamic nation where he said minority Christians face severe persecution in several areas.
Pastor Imran Amanat, leader of LEAD Ministries Pakistan, told Worthy News, “This heartbreaking incident reflects the dangerous consequences of religious intolerance and deeply rooted societal prejudices.”
He stressed that “Interfaith couples, especially those involving minority communities, continue to face serious threats to their safety.
The government must take decisive action to protect such vulnerable individuals.”
MINORITY RIGHTS
Pastor Imran added that LEAD Ministries Pakistan “is standing with the family of Sajid Masih in prayer, while continuing to advocate for justice and the protection of minority rights in Pakistan.”
He confirmed that “Police investigations are currently ongoing, and the post-mortem reports are awaited.”
Gill noted that the “suspected honor killing” has reignited “urgent calls for legal reform and greater protection for interfaith couples and religious minorities in Pakistan.”
He said they “remain highly vulnerable to violence, coercion, and false legal accusations.”
It underscored broader concerns about honor killings, with human rights defenders estimating that around 1,000 women are murdered “in the name of honour” in Pakistan every year, including Christians.
Pakistan ranks 8th on the annual World Watch List of 50 nations where advocacy group Open Doors says Christians face the most persecution for their faith.
Pakistan’s roughly 4.5 million Christians comprise nearly two percent of Pakistan’s mainly Muslim population of 252 million people, according to Christian researchers.
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