Pakistani authorities arrest a Muslim cleric on allegations of framing a Christian girl who was arrested under the country’s controversial anti-blasphemy law, according to police officials.
Religious and secular groups worldwide have protested over the detention in August of Rimsha Masih, accused by Muslim neighbours in Islamabad of burning Islamic religious texts.
The girl’s family and some human rights activists put the girl’s age at as young as 11. A medical board who reviewed her case determined she was around the age of 14 and said her mental capacity did not match her age, which called into question her mental state.
The about-face and arrest of the Muslim cleric could lead to her being released from prison.
The cleric Khalid Chishti was arrested late on Saturday for allegedly planting pages of a Koran in a shopping bag containing burned papers and ash that had been carried by the Christian girl, said Munir Jaffery, an investigating officer in the case.
“Witnesses complained that he had torn pages from a Koran and placed them in her bag which had burned papers,” Mr Jaffery told Reuters.
Mr Chishti was scheduled to appear in court later on Sunday.
The arrest is the latest twist in a religiously charged case that has focused attention on Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy laws. Under the law, anyone who speaks ill of Islam and the Prophet Mohammad commits a crime and faces the death penalty.
But activists and human rights groups say vague terminology has led to its misuse, and that the law dangerously discriminates against the Muslim country’s tiny minority groups.
Christians, who make up four per cent of Pakistan‘s population of 180 million, have been especially concerned about the blasphemy law, saying it offers them no protection. Convictions hinge on witness testimony and are often linked to vendettas, they complain.
The death sentence has never been carried out and most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy.
In 2009, 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by a mob of 1,000 Muslims in the town of Gojra, in Punjab province. At least seven Christians were burned to death. The attacks were triggered by reports of the desecration of the Koran.
Two Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous letter against the Prophet Mohammad were gunned down outside a court in the eastern city of Faisalabad in July of 2010.
Few are willing to tackle the explosive issue after two prominent politicians who criticised the law were murdered last year. One was killed by his own bodyguard, who then attracted adoring crowds.