Hospital Staff Kills Pakistani Man for Being Christian, Relatives Say

A Christian family in Lahore, Pakistan say they became victims of a deadly attack by hospital staff while seeking treatment for a pregnant relative.

According to Morning Star News, brothers Anil and Sunil Saleem took their pregnant sister Kiran Kashif to the Government Services Institute of Medical Sciences Monday after she complained of labor pains.

However, when they arrived the doctor on duty refused to treat Kashif.

"When my sister protested against the rude behavior, the doctor started slapping her, throwing her on the floor," Anil Saleem said. "She asked my sister how dare a Chuhri (a derogatory term for Christians) question her order?"

When the brothers and their other family members came to Kashif's defense, the doctor reportedly alerted security and told them to teach the Christians a lesson.

"Around 15 to 20 paramedical staff and security guards and eight to 10 young doctors, including Dr. Salman, Dr. Irfan, Dr. Hasan and Dr. Sahi lunged at us with iron rods, chairs, leather belts and other things and started beating us," he said. "Sunil, a police constable in the National Highway and Motorway Police, tried his best to placate the assailants but they continued to beat him mercilessly, kicking and punching him in the groin and chest until he fell unconscious."

The attack continued until police finally arrived on scene.

"Most of the doctors fled after the incident, while those who were present paid no attention to our cries to help our dying brother," Anil Saleem told Morning Star News.

Sunil died from his injuries, leaving behind a wife and four children.

The family says they reported Sunil's murder but police have yet to arrest the perpetrators.

Napolean Qayyum, a Christian rights activist says the attack is just one example of this majority Muslim country's hatred for Christians.

"It pains to say this, but the Pakistani government has failed to make this country safe for its minority communities, especially Christians," he told Morning Star News.

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman imprisoned now for nearly nine years on blasphemy charges, is another example of Christian persecution in Pakistan.

She faces the death penalty for her charges.

Pakistan is ranked fifth on Open Doors' 2018 Word Watch List of the worst countries to live as a Christian.