06 June 2017

Christian Pakistani sewage worker dies after doctors refuse to touch him on Ramadan fast

A Chritstian Pakistani sewage worker has died after three Muslim doctors refused to touch him.

Irfan Masih died on June 1, in Umar Kot Civil Hospital, Sindh, Pakistan. According to World Watch Monitor, the doctors said that their fast would be 'makruh' meaning invalid because he was 'unclean' from the blood on his body and belonged to a 'chuhra'.

The word 'chura' means 'low caste' and is espeically derogatory and reserved for sanitory workers but can often be used in the Pakistan for 'Christian'.

The Umar Kot Civil Hospital in Sindh has around 75 Christian families in which the majority work as sanitory workers, a job that many muslims in the area refuse to do. In 1999, writer, Casey Ethan said : 'Most Pakistani Christians today still do the same work as their untouchable ancestors: sweeping the streets and doing other menial jobs formerly deemed ritually or liter. [Christian Today] Read more