Background & Employment Patras Masih (38), a Christian resident of Farooqabad, District Sheikhupura, lives with his wife Iram Bibi, their four young children (Shine, Meerab, Dua, and Musa), and his younger unmarried brother, Salman. Seeking a livelihood for his family, Patras began working as a laborer at the Dera of landlord Muhammad Ghulam Jaffer in 2022 for a monthly salary of PKR 15,000. Simultaneously, his brother Salman was employed under similar terms at the Dera of landlord Muhammad Rana Shaffi and his son, Muhammad Rana Irfan. The family relocated together to a single room provided at the landlord’s Dera.
Exploitation, Bonded Labor, and Escape Despite honest work, both landlords stopped paying the agreed-upon wages within a few months, accumulating substantial salary arrears. When Patras demanded their unpaid earnings, the landlords responded with physical violence, illegally detained the family, and forced them into bonded labor. Patras eventually managed to escape with his wife and children to Lahore, taking temporary refuge at an acquaintance's house while living under constant threat of recapture.
First Legal Intervention (Protection Petition)
Patras approached the Centre
for Legal
Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) for protection. CLAAS immediately filed a
petition in the Lahore High Court detailing the wage dispute, torture, and illegal
detention. The court issued orders directing the Station House Officer (SHO) of Police
Station Farooqabad to act strictly according to law and prevent any harassment of Patras
and his family.
Re-abduction and Habeas Corpus Petition Re-abduction and Habeas Corpus Petition Shortly after the initial court order, the landlords tracked down Patras’s brother, Salman, forcibly took him back to the Dera, and subjected him to torture. Patras again sought urgent intervention from CLAAS, which filed a habeas corpus petition in the Lahore High Court.
Resolution The High Court ordered the SHO of Police Station Farooqabad to recover Salman from illegal custody and present him before the court. Police successfully rescued Salman and produced him in court, where the judge safely restored his custody to Patras.
