A Christian nurse from Pakistan flees to the West
A Christian nurse from Pakistan, who narrowly escaped lynching following accusations of blasphemy, is publicly speaking about her family’s new life in North America.
Video footage of Tabitha Nazir Gill, 32, went viral in 2021. In the footage, she is beaten by colleagues after being accused of insulting the prophet of Islam, which violates article 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code and is punishable by death.
The hospital nurse was forced into hiding outside of the country while police investigations continued. Now, more than two years later, in an exclusive interview with the U.K. national office of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Gill and her husband, Sohail Almas, have opened up about fleeing Pakistan.
They said that receiving an immigrant visa to a Western country, which cannot be disclosed for safety reasons, was a “miracle.”
She and Almas live under tight security with their two boys, whose names are also withheld.
Gill said, “I am thankful to Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God, for giving me my freedom. Jesus is mighty to save me.”
Of the assault itself, she recalled, “The mob wanted to kill me, but I kept praying to Jesus. I opened my eyes and felt that I saw angels, and from that moment on, I knew that I would be saved.”
She was working as head nurse at Sobhraj Maternity Hospital in Karachi when she disciplined a colleague who accepted a bribe from a patient, and, in so doing, broke one of the institute’s rules. Gill said that her colleague responded by accusing her of blasphemy.
Then, hospital staff surrounded her and repeatedly beat her, tying her up with ropes and forcing her to apologize.
Gill was locked in a room until the police arrived to arrest her. But since there was no credible evidence against her, she was eventually released, and hundreds of extremists gathered outside the police station, insisting that they file an official report.
Gill and her family went into hiding but with the case still pending, they were taken out of the country to an undisclosed location in the Middle East, where they received residency cards.
But now, having settled in the West, Gill told ACN that she wants to dedicate her life to advocacy for persecuted Christians in Pakistan.
In a message to her fellow Christian nurses in Pakistan, Mariam Lal and Newosh Arooj, who are also in hiding after charges of blasphemy, Gill said, “I want them to know that we are praying for them and that we stand with them.
“I will work for persecuted Christians until I take my last breath.”
Gill also expressed her gratitude to those who secured her passage out of Pakistan, including Christian leader Rev. Iftikhar Indryas, an advocate for the persecuted faithful. Almas added, “We are so thankful to be where we are now. We know we will never be able to go back to Pakistan.”
— John Pontifex
