14-year-old Christian boy set ablaze succumbs to injuries in Lahore

LAHORE:

Nauman Masih, a teenager who was doused in kerosene oil and set alight last week, breathed his last on Wednesday.

Around 2,000 people attended his funeral at the St Ignatius Catholic Church in Shera Kot. Father Samson Dilawar led the service and was joined by other Christian leaders.

Yousaf Benjamin, a minority rights activist, said that he had met Nauman Masih on April 11 and found him to be a calm and brave boy.

Yousaf Masih, one of Nauman Masih’s friends present at the funeral, said that Nauman Masih had been murdered for his faith. “The men who set him on fire asked him if he was a Christian before they doused him in kerosene,” he said.

“We request Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to ensure that Nauman Masih is given justice and the men who set him on fire are punished according to law,” Enan, another of Nauman Masih’s friends, said

An investigation wing official said in his statement to the police, Nauman Masih had said that on April 9, he was exiting the shop he worked at when two men beat him up, threw kerosene on him and set him on fire. He said the investigation was in process.

Earlier, the boy’s grandfather recorded a statement accusing Nauman Masih’s uncle and aunt of the incident. He said they had wanted to grab the three-marla house Nauman Masih’s father had bequeathed to his son.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2015.