Body of Saba Mehboob after Sept. 3, 2026 shooting. (Tariq Chaman for Christian Daily International-Morning Star News)

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A married, 21-year-old Christian woman was shot dead inside her home in Rawalpindi last week by a Muslim neighbor whose advances she had rejected, reflecting an attitude among many Pakistan Muslims that crimes against Christians will go unpunished, sources said.

Saba Mehboob, who separated from her husband a year ago, was shot in the forehead at about 9 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 3), after the alleged assailant, Adnan Butt, entered the house in Dhoke Ratta locality with a pistol, according to her brother, Joshua Mehboob. The suspect then abducted her teenage stepbrother and pressured him to falsely confess to the killing, according to the victim’s family.

Joshua Mehboob, a member of a local Full Gospel Assemblies church, said Butt accused his sister of dishonoring him before shooting her in front of her 16-year-old stepbrother, Anoosh.

“According to Anoosh, he and his paternal uncles, Michael and Nomi, were in a room when Butt suddenly entered with Saba, loudly abusing her,” Mehboob said. “He pointed his pistol at Michael and Nomi and ordered them to leave. He then slapped Saba repeatedly while shouting that she had dishonored him and been disloyal to him.”

Butt then shot Saba in the forehead, killing her instantly, Mehboob said.

Butt subsequently forced Anoosh outside at gunpoint, where another man was waiting on a motorcycle, according to Mehboob. The two men allegedly took the teenager to the home of Butt’s brother-in-law, where several other people were present.

Mehboob said the men threatened to kill Anoosh if he told police that Butt had killed his sister and pressured the adolescent to confess to the murder.

“Anoosh was kept in their custody until about 5 p.m. on Sept. 4,” Mehboob said. “Meanwhile, Butt also threatened Anoosh’s father and other family members with death if they registered a case against him.”

He said Anoosh was released after his father and uncles agreed not to file a police complaint.

After his release, Anoosh went with relatives to the district headquarters hospital to receive his sister’s body, Mehboob said. Police arrived there to record his statement and, after hearing his account, asked him to become the complainant in the case, he said. Police subsequently took Anoosh and his father into protective custody, according to Mehboob.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered, but Butt later obtained pre-arrest bail from a court, he said.

Mehboob alleged that Butt had been harassing and threatening Saba Mehboob for some time. He said she twice had slapped him after he blocked her way in a market.

“I think Saba’s rejection fueled his anger, leading him to murder her,” he said.

Saba Mehboob’s killing prompted a protest in Dhoke Ratta, where Christian and Muslim residents reportedly called for Butt’s arrest.

Rawalpindi-based journalist Tariq Chaman said members of Saba Mehboob’s family and local residents alleged that police were pressuring Anoosh to accept responsibility for his sister’s death.

“Police have denied the allegations and said the teenage boy is being kept in custody for his protection,” Chaman said. “His father has also been kept with him because the boy is a minor.”

The family and local elders are demanding the release of Anoosh and his father and calling for the investigation to be transferred from Dhoke Ratta police station to a senior police officer, Chaman said. His sources indicated that additional circumstances surrounding the case could emerge as the investigation progresses and potentially affect the direction of the murder inquiry.

“Local sources have claimed that Butt and his family have criminal histories, and it’s possible that the victim’s family may succumb to their pressure at some stage,” Chaman said.

Human rights advocates have long raised concerns about the vulnerability of religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly in cases involving sexual violence, forced conversion and allegations of blasphemy. Rights groups have also documented cases in which victims or their families face intimidation and pressure to settle disputes outside the formal justice system.

Mehboob told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that his sister was one of five children born to his mother from her first marriage to Mehboob Masih. After Masih died several years ago, their mother remarried Yaqoob Masih and had five more children with him, including Anoosh.

Saba Mehboob married Zeeshan Mehmood about six years ago, but she separated from him more than a year ago because of his severe drug addiction and moved back to live with their mother in Dhoke Ratta with her two daughters, Joshua Mehboob said.

Open Doors, a Christian organization that monitors persecution, ranked Pakistan eighth in its 2026 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the greatest difficulty. The organization cited systemic discrimination, mob violence, forced conversion and weaknesses in law enforcement among the factors contributing to risks faced by Christians in Pakistan.

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