Mob attacks Pakistani Christian pastor and family

More than 50 armed men stormed the house of pastor Michael Robert in Punjab province to forcibly evict his whole family. The attack resulted in the kin's serious injuries.

The armed men, led by a local resident named Hameed Gaadi, reportedly arrived at Robert's house on the night of Oct. 19 firing their guns in the air to scare the locals. The mob forcibly opened the gate and attacked Robert's family, according to Morning Star News.

A local resident called the police to the scene and the injured family was brought to the hospital.

Aneeqa Maria, an attorney for advocacy group The Voice Society, said that the mob wanted to seize Robert's house, which is currently being disputed in court.

Maria said that the house was bought by Robert's father from a local Muslim a few years ago but the family learned later that the previous owner had transferred the property to Gaadi's name.

Robert's family filed a lawsuit for fraud and a judge issued a restraining order to prevent anyone from evicting the family until the case was settled. A local police inspector named Syed Wajhul Hassan disregarded the order and allegedly told the family to vacate the house and surrender it to Gaadi.

Maria said that Hassan threatened the family when Robert refused to surrender the property. She alleged that the police took their time to respond to the emergency call on the night of the attack.

"Rather than making efforts to arrest the accused persons, the police put a lock on the gate and announced that it was seizing the property because it was disputed," the lawyer said to Morning Star News.

"This is a clear violation of the court's restraining order and a grave injustice for the pastor and his family, who have been forced out of their own home by the police at the behest of gangsters," she added.

Maria is also worried that some Islamist groups are trying to escalate the religious tension in the area. She stated that a member of the hard-line Ahle Sunnah Wal Jamaat had vowed to organize protest rallies to prevent Robert's family from re-entering the house because they consider it to be "Muslim's property."

In a report from Christians in Pakistan, The Voice Society said that the mob also destroyed the family's belongings.

"The attackers threw all the luggage in the house outside the house and broke each and every thing including furniture and all household equipment. The attackers also looted the house badly," The Voice Society stated.