Blasphemy Case: Rimsha Masih still behind the bars

Despite the Rimsha Masih case turned a new twist, the bail hearing for the young Christian girl was adjourned until Tuesday.

She was in police custody since she was arrested in a poor Islamabad suburb more than two weeks ago accused of burning papers of Noorani Qaeda.

In what appeared to be a dramatic move, the case took a peculiar turn when police arrested Khalid Jadoon, the prayer leader who had allegedly added some pages of the holy Quran among the burnt papers to strengthen the case against Rimsha Masih.

Jadoon, who has been to jail on a 14-day judicial remand under the very same charges, had claimed to have busted a blasphemy case involving a 14-year-old girl.

Hafiz Zubair, who is Moazzan of the mosque, testified before a magistrate that Jadoon had planted evidence against Rimsha Masih. He said the cleric deliberately put charred two pages inscribed with Quranic verses in the ashes brought to him by a young man.

Police booked the cleric of the mosque under section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, on charges of desecrating the Holy Quran.

It is vital to mention her that he can be imprisoned for life if found guilty in the case.

According to a police official, the charges of tampering with evidence and filing a false case were also being investigated and would be included in the case against the cleric later on.

Hafiz Zubair said, “We tried to stop him but he said this would strengthen the blasphemy case against Rimsha. We were sitting in Aitikaf in the mosque when they witnessed the incident”.

It is vital to mention here that Hafiz Awais and Khurram Shahzad, who were also doing Aitkaf in the mosque and witnessed of whole incident, later confirmed the statement of Hafiz Zubair.

Apparently the young minor girl may be freed from prison in the coming days.

The next hearing is to take place Tuesday but it is still to be seen if releasing Rimsha from jail is a safe option as she and her family are still under threat.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Sep 3 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. 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.