Court adjourns case of 14-year-old girl accused of blasphemy

A session court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of bail plea filed by a 14-year-old Christian girl Rimsha, who has been accused of blasphemy.

During the today’s hearing‚ counsel for the complainant challenged the medical report of Rimsha, saying the medical board was not set up on the court directives. He raised question about girl’s age and whether she is mentally impaired.

Justice Jawad Abbas said that the hearing would be conducted on Saturday while he seeks clarification on how the report was conducted.

A medical report submitted Tuesday put her age at 14, which makes her a minor. But a lawyer representing the man accusing the girl of burning the Quran challenged the report

The girl belonging to the Christian community who is said to be suffering from Down’s Syndrome has been held since Aug 16 under the strict blasphemy laws, prompting concern from Western governments, the Vatican and rights groups.

The complainant’s lawyer said that the legal procedure was not being followed in the girl’s case who he said was being tried under the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (2000).

The lawyer for the girl disagreed saying that the test was conducted by a panel of eminent doctors.

A large number of people belonging to the Christian community, civil society and international media were present at the court’s premises. Strict security measures were also employed on the occasion.

According to the reports, the girls based on factors including her height, build and teeth, the girl appeared to be approximately 14 years, and gave details of her apparent mental abilities.

In the meantime, the complainant lawyer claimed that doctors and other officials were favoring Rimsha.

Rao Abdur Raheem, the lawyer representing her accuser, said the victim has confessed that she burned a chapter of the Holy Quran.

He observed, “I don’t want to see Masih’s case turned into another one focusing on changing the law, and he warned that to do so could again incite a violent reaction”.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=31801

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Aug 30 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.