The case filed against a young Pakistani Christian girl, who was detained for three weeks after being falsely accused of blasphemy by an Islamic cleric, was on Tuesdaydismissed by a court here, amid global condemnation.
Chief Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman of the Islamabad High Court, who had last week reserved his judgement on 14-year-old Rimsha Masih's petition seeking the dismissal of the FIR against her, directed police to drop the complaint. The judge observed that this was a ‘highly sensitive matter’ and people must be very careful while levelling such accusations against anyone. Fake allegations should not be levelled against any Muslim or non-Muslim, he remarked.
In a 15-page judgement that included references from the Quran, the Chief Justice said no one had seen Rimsha burning any pages of a religious text. Rimsha's lawyer Akmal Bhatti told reporters that the court had quashed the case and declared his client ‘innocent’.
Rimsha was arrested under the harsh blasphemy law from a low-income neighbourhood on the outskirts of Islamabad on 16 August after her neighbour Malik Ammad accused her of burning pages from a religious text.
Chief Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman of the Islamabad High Court, who had last week reserved his judgement on 14-year-old Rimsha Masih's petition seeking the dismissal of the FIR against her, directed police to drop the complaint. The judge observed that this was a ‘highly sensitive matter’ and people must be very careful while levelling such accusations against anyone. Fake allegations should not be levelled against any Muslim or non-Muslim, he remarked.
In a 15-page judgement that included references from the Quran, the Chief Justice said no one had seen Rimsha burning any pages of a religious text. Rimsha's lawyer Akmal Bhatti told reporters that the court had quashed the case and declared his client ‘innocent’.
Rimsha was arrested under the harsh blasphemy law from a low-income neighbourhood on the outskirts of Islamabad on 16 August after her neighbour Malik Ammad accused her of burning pages from a religious text.