By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
SARGODHA, PAKISTAN (Worthy News) – The wife of an elderly Christian who recently died of his injuries after being lynched by a Muslim mob in eastern Pakistan has also passed away following a heart attack linked to stress, Worthy News learned Wednesday.
In May, Muslims attacked 74-year-old Nazir Masih in the city of Sargodha in Punjab province while falsely accusing him of burning pages from the Koran, seen as a holy book by Islam, Christians said.
A video sent to Worthy News by a well-informed Christian at the time showed the suffering, bleeding older man sitting on his knees with a deep wound in the back of his head.
People were apparently shouting insults at the man, whose clothing appeared soaked in blood. A mob had gathered and sought to kill him, hitting him with bricks, stones, and sticks, Christians said.
In three footage obtained by Worthy News, their house and shoemaking factory could be seen on fire.
After being rushed to hospital, the Christian man, a Presbyterian, passed away from injuries sustained in the violence, which also saw attacks against other Christians.
“Following this tragic incident, Nazir’s wife Naseem was left devastated, struggling to overcome the trauma of seeing her husband brutally beaten by his attackers” before she too died, said advocacy group Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC).
‘TEARS NEVER DRIED’
In comments shared with Worthy News, her son Sultan recalled, “The tears in her eyes never dried.”
“When bail was granted to the perpetrators responsible for the attack, the Christian widow’s agony was further intensified,” VOMC told Worthy News.
“On Friday, June 21, Naseem began experiencing chest pains. An ambulance was called for the Christian woman, and the paramedics stated that her symptoms were likely due to stress,” added VOMC, who has close knowledge about the situation.
“Since it was time for Friday’s Islamic prayers, they told the family that no senior doctor would be available to look at her, so they gave her medication and left. When Naseem’s condition did not stabilize, her family took her to the hospital, where she died of cardiac arrest,” the group explained.
The Christian woman was buried next to her husband. “Our lives have been completely shattered. All family members – including children – are suffering from depression and stress. We have lost our business and are forced to live in our own house as refugees…. We’ve already lost hope for justice, and now my mother has left us,” her son added.
VOMC said it had urged its supporters “to pray” for the family. “For the family members who are now mourning the loss of both Nazir and Naseem, tensions remain high. Many are fearful whenever they enter public spaces, concerned that they may be followed and potentially attacked.”
Pakistan has come under international pressure to improve the plight of minority Christians and other non-Muslims. Rights groups suggest that controversial blasphemy has contributed to an atmosphere of hatred toward non-Muslims in the Islamic nation.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
European Union leaders issued sharp warnings Monday after President Donald Trump threatened to impose sweeping 30% tariffs on EU imports by August 1, a move they say would severely disrupt nearly $2 trillion in annual trade between the two economic powerhouses.
President Donald Trump on Monday issued his strongest warning yet to Russia, threatening to impose sweeping 100% “secondary tariffs” on countries that continue to do business with Moscow if a peace agreement with Ukraine is not finalized within 50 days.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in coordination with the Shin Bet internal security agency, has carried out a sweeping two-week campaign targeting senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives involved in restoring the groups’ military infrastructure in Gaza, the military announced Sunday.
A Sunday morning turned into a tragedy in Lexington after a gunman shot a Kentucky state trooper and then opened fire inside Richmond Road Baptist Church, killing two women and injuring several others before being fatally shot by police.
Lobbyists with access to U.S. President Donald J. Trump are charging some of the world’s poorest nations millions of dollars to arrange humanitarian and military aid following the closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Worthy News learned.
Nigeria’s former president Muhammadu Buhari, who captured global headlines as the first opposition leader to unseat an incumbent at the ballot box, has died in London at the age of 82, after a long illness, officials confirmed Sunday.
The U.S. Senate has passed the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., that would expand federal tax filing relief to individuals affected by state-declared disasters.