In a country blessed with the freedom of religion, it’s hard for us to fathom stories like those of Sharoon Masih.
The 17-year-old was only on his fourth day at his new school in Pakistan’s Punjab Province when he was brutally beaten to death by Muslim classmates.
His offense was reportedly drinking from the same glass as a fellow Muslim student. Other accounts allege that a student accused him of smashing his phone, after earlier claiming the beating was over Sharoon “bumping into his foot.”
But this wasn’t the first time that the teen had been subjected to such unwarranted cruelty for his faith.
“You’re a Christian; don’t dare sit with us if you want to live,” another student told Sharoon before his death.
Though he received daily threats, the good-hearted teen did not want to worry his parents with the gory details of the bullying, especially since his father, Elyab, saved his hard-earned money as a brick laborer to get him into a good school.
“My son was a kind-hearted, hard-working and affable boy,” said his mother. “He has always been loved by teachers and pupils alike and shared great sorrow that he was being targeted by students at his new school because of his faith.”
