Pakistan: Christian youth dies from abandonment, institutional cruelty

Islamabad, Aug 8 A leading minority rights group on Friday drew attention to the death of a young man from the Christian community of Pakistan who endured years of imprisonment under the country's infamous blasphemy laws.

"At just 25 years old, Nabil Masih's life came to an end quietly, painfully, and far too soon. But his story, marked by injustice, isolation, and perseverance, will not fade into silence. His journey from a 16-year-old boy in a small Pakistani town to a symbol of systemic persecution lays bare the cruelty of Pakistan's blasphemy laws and the deep wounds they inflict upon the country's most vulnerable," read a statement issued by the Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM).

The rights body mentioned that Nabil was arrested on September 18, 2016 in Phoolnagar near Kasur city of Pakistan’s Punjab province. He was accused of sharing a blasphemous image on social media — the one he always denied posting.

Highlighting that Pakistani authorities chose to treat Nabil as a criminal, not as a minor deserving of protection, the rights body stated that the accusation regardless of truth, was enough to ruin his life.

The VOPM revealed that despite his age, Nabil was charged under Sections 295 and 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code — laws meant to uphold religious respect, but too often weaponised against minorities. He was denied bail, held for years without trial, and in 2018, sentenced to 10 years in prison.

"Behind prison walls, Nabil endured not only physical and mental abuse but also crushing solitude. He lived under the constant threat of violence from inmates and guards. His body, too, began to deteriorate, developing painful, untreated tumors. Only in March 2021, after nearly five years in custody, did the Lahore High Court finally grant him bail on medical grounds. But freedom came too late," the rights body noted.

"Nabil underwent surgery for the tumors in May 2021, only to face a relapse in early 2025. Then, in June, he was struck by acute Hepatitis E, a condition made worse by years of neglect and poor health. He was hospitalised in Lahore, where his condition briefly stabilised before worsening.

The VOPM stated that Nabil’s case is not an isolated incident but reflection of a disturbing pattern where blasphemy laws are misused to target minorities, settle personal scores, and provoke mob violence. It emphasised that in such a context justice is not blind but altogether absent.

Raising concern, the rights body stated that his story called for urgent answers from Pakistani authorities about why children are treated as enemies of faith, why courts move slowly when lives hang in the balance, and why laws designed to protect become tools of terror.

"Nabil Masih didn't die only from disease. He died from abandonment, from institutional cruelty, from a nation's silence," said the VOPM.

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