ICC Note: Over the past month, Police raids have led to the arrest of dozens of young Christians in Karachi, Pakistan. On May 13, Christians staged a protest at St. John’s Church to demand an end to these type of police raids. Those who have been released have claimed they underwent torture, false accusations and attempts to make them confess to crimes.

05/18/2018 Pakistan (UCA News) – Fear and panic has swept through a Christian slum in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi after more than a dozen youths were rounded up by police in a series of pre-dawn raids, residents say.

The raids took place in the Gulishan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi during the past month.

“Four men in police uniforms and plain clothes forced their way into our house by breaking the room lock with a cutter at 5 a.m.,” Sumera Khurram, 26, a nurse, told ucanews.com.

“They first told us that they wanted to verify identity cards and then took my brother away without producing any arrest warrant.”

She had gone to the police station where her brother was taken, but was not allowed to him.

“I appeal to the chief justice, the Sindh government and authorities to take notice of the illegal police action,” she said, denying a police claim that her brother was involved in criminal activities.

A teenage boy, Akash Masih, who was released on bail after three days of detention, said that he was subjected to brutal torture.

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