‘Blasphemy’: Pakistani Christian Girl Accused of Burning the Koran Ruled a Minor
- Posted on August 28, 2012 at 7:09am by
Billy Hallowell
- Print »
- Email »
ISLAMABAD (AP) — An official medical review of a Pakistani Christian girl accused of desecrating the Koran has determined that the girl is a minor, a lawyer for the girl said Tuesday.
The finding, which means the girl will be tried in the juvenile court system, could possibly defuse what has been a highly contentious case in Pakistan, where blasphemy can be punished with life in prison or even death. The accusations against the girl have inflamed religious tensions in Pakistan, and sparked a mass exodus of Christians from the girl’s neighborhood fearful of retribution from their Muslim neighbors.
The attorney, Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, said a report by a medical board investigating the age and mental state of the girl determined she was 14 years old.
He also said the board determined her mental state did not correspond to her age. It was not clear whether that meant she was mentally impaired. Some Pakistani media reports have said the girl has Down syndrome.
Chaudhry said a bail hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, and that he would move to dismiss the case after the hearing, saying there was “no solid evidence” against his client.
He said he saw his client Saturday in the Rawalpindi prison where she’s being held and that she was “weeping and crying.”
Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, the lawyer of a Christian girl accused of blasphemy, talks to media after a court hearing in Islamabad, Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. Chaudhry said a report by a medical board investigating the age and mental state of the girl determined she was between 13 and 14. The girl was accused by a neighbor of burning pages from the Quran. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
The Associated Press is withholding her name because it does not generally identify underage suspects.
The girl was accused by a neighbor of burning pages of a Koran, Islam’s holy book. But many aspects of the case have been in dispute since the incident surfaced a little less than two weeks ago, including her age, whether she was mentally impaired and what exactly she was burning.
The lawyer said a birth certificate provided by the church put her age at eleven years old, but in the end the medical board determined she was 14. Generally, birth certificates must be issued by the Pakistani government to be considered a legal document.
The case has spotlighted once again Pakistan’s troublesome blasphemy laws that critics say can be used to settle vendettas or seek retribution. Many of Pakistan’s minorities, including Christians, live in fear of being accused of blasphemy.
Hundreds of Christian families have fled the neighborhood where the girl lived, fearing a backlash from their Muslim neighbors.
Once someone is labeled as a blasphemer, even if they are never convicted, they can face vigilante justice by outraged Pakistanis. In July, thousands of people dragged a Pakistani man accused of desecrating the Koran from a police station, beat him to death and set his body alight.
The potential public backlash also means few people have spoken out to change or repeal the blasphemy laws. Last year two prominent politicians who criticized the blasphemy law were murdered, one by his own bodyguard who then attracted adoring mobs.
–
RELATED:
Comments (41)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
MSNBC Host Snaps in Heated Segment: ‘What in the World Is Riskier Than Being a Poor Person in America?’ 694 Comments
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 662 Comments
‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’ 525 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 364 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 352 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 235 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 246 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order Read More- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 147 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 300 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 235 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Stephen Markovich
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 2:50pmGet over it, the koran is not that important.
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 3:05pmIt is not that important but, properly used, it can be entertaining.
Report Post »1. Remove pages
2. Use as toilet paper
3. Soak with gasoline
4. Use as targets with tracer ammunition
paperpushermj
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 1:08pmIslam has awoken from its sleep. Sound the Drums… Islam is on the March. History is about to repeat itself. Sound the War Drums… let riders go forth to warn Christendom… Islam is once again on the march…Sound the War Drum!
Report Post »The_Pointy_End
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 4:27pmWatch the movie Lord of the Rings. It is a known fact that J.R.R. Tolkien reflects his Catholic worldview in his books. The forces of Mordor rise while the rest of the known world sleeps. One Ring “religion” to rule them all. The comparisons are endless.
Report Post »zoro51
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 12:41pmwow dot heads say this??… whats blaspheny to burn a FALSE BOOK OF LIES… ?? its NOT.. there IS no ALLAH the islam is a man made CULT of hate n death… the koran IS a book of LIES… period…
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 1:19pmPlease be careful Zoro. The slang term “dot heads” is usually used to refer to Hindus. Hindus, as well as Christians and Jews, are considered “infidels” by the death cult of Islime.
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 1:31pmOh, they hate Hindus even more since they are considered polytheists. They are outright murdered and not given a chance to “convert.”
And Zorro — it matters not what the truth is; it matters what they think it is. In case you had not noticed, muslims are easily outraged and take it out on the nearest victim. They are two year olds in adult bodies w/adult weapons.
Report Post »JohnHW
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 10:20amWhen Islam started is when the middle east started to become “uncivilized.” When my ship (USN) was in Jiddah for refueling, we were given the name (in arabic) of the “street” that turned into the road to Mecca outside of town and a compass. We were told to make sure that if we found ourselves on this street that we always turned to the west. If we needed to go to the east, we should go either north or south, then go east until we could rejoin the street and only go west. Seems that the peaceful religious of Islam would relieve anyone (non believer) who headed toward Mecca of his head.
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 10:31amThe pedophile “prophet” declared war on “infidels” (all non-muslimes). When will the “infidels” finally wake up and return the favor?
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 12:30pmSo…..I guess burying the Koran in a pile of crap is out of the question in Pakistan.
Report Post »JQuentinEvermann
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 10:19amHow else should you punish someone for burning a book? She did something that insulted these peoples’ favorite faerie tale! There is no room for compassion in the “religion of peace.”
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 10:32amYou mean “religion of pieces.”
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 9:55amWhy has the world allowed the satanic regime in Islamisbad to possess nuclear weapons?
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 9:51amIt should be no surprise that the muslimes would persecute a little girl. Their satanic “prophet” was a pedophile.
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 9:43amThe centuries-old attempt by Muslims to force the entire world to “submit” has been held back by the conflict between Shia and Sunni. In Mecca, King Abdullah and Ambillycartersdad met to discuss “Islamic unity.” If both branches of the cult unite, the rest of the world (Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs and even atheists) must work together to finally deal with the problem.
Report Post »pwatkins
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 9:26amMay God bless this little girl. Satan has always been working in the middle east and shows signs of moving in on us with help from today’s party of the demonbrats.
Report Post »God Bless America!
amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 9:22amThe demonrat convention will feature a two-hour muslime “prayer” fest. They will “pray” to satan that the U.S. and all the world will “submit.” It is sad that a major political party would so openly embrace the enemy.
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 9:11amThe only wrong this girl may have done wrong was to pollute the air with nasty smoke from the filthiest book ever written.
Report Post »LakeHartwellSailor
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 12:13pmWell, then that makes her a Republican! Because we all know that Republicans want dirty water and dirty air…..I know I do! I think of ways EVERY day to pollute the air. That‘s what I’m all about! Oh, and I also have a diabolical plan to wage war on women!
I’m SIMON BAR SINISTER – R
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 12:24pmShe may well be a Republican. Cruelty to children (including the unborn) seems to be a feature of the muslimes and their demonrat buddies.
Report Post »silentme63
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 9:02amReligion of deception, we should pray for this little girl, press in hard. We shall hear many mores stories like these for the bible tells us persecution of the saints will run wild in last days.. Pray for believers overseas, in middle-east, now lets get on our knees.
Report Post »troymac20
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:39amThose hundreds of families fleeing the neighborhood should do themselves a favor and flee the whole country.
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 1:47pmThat would be on foot w/the clothes on your back. Christians are the poorest of the poor. They sift thru muslim trash to find useful items. They sweep streets and other menial tasks — all that is permitted them because they are Christians. Yet they persevere in love as God’s witness to the muslims. The day is nearly upon muslims that will be their end. It will be Jesus’ return in glory. He will judge our country, too.
Report Post »The_Pointy_End
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 6:36pmThe Forum For Middle Eastern Understanding (www.ffmu.org) is a group trying to educate the west on the evils of this “religion”. They also have rescued Christians from Pakistian who are living with persecution and in fear of their lives. Remember Christians have to go through Muslims offices and talk with Muslim officials in order to get papers/passports to leave. Not so easy when you have to talk with the same people persecuting you in order to leave.
Report Post »bigben357mag
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:39amReligion of peace, YEAH RIGHT! And now the DNC is in bed with people who would gladly do this in the USA!
Report Post »elkslayer
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:35amDoes this not make you appreciate what we have here in the blessed United States Of America?
Report Post »Locked
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:18amI think we can all agree that blasphemy laws are ridiculous and this girl should be let go (whether she has Down Syndrome or not doesn’t matter).
When you mix government and religion the results are never pretty.
Report Post »sndrman
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:29ami guess what religion your talking about……
Report Post »Locked
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 9:26amAny religion? I’m a firm believer of the first amendment and the freedom of religion. When a government can punish someone for their beliefs, it’s a terrible crime.
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 10:18amAnd when you mix government and a satanic death cult it is even worse.
Report Post »mikenleeds
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:14amI can’t imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to be Muslim.
Report Post »a 11 year old child is nothing but a baby and has no idea what they are doing or talking about,
any government that would send a 11 year old child to death needs to be lined up against a wall and put to death them selfs ,
freaking animals
chickenfried
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:03amI can’t imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to be Muslim.
Did I just answer my own question?
Report Post »noland
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:00amThe DNC should be so proud of themselves, why can“t the RNC speak out about who”s runnin the show at the DNC??
Report Post »stephenb0
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 7:34amHow many are kill over burning the bibles? I thing the girl new what she was doing
Report Post »she wants to show the world how stupid there laws are, for that she should get a walk.
Rosalyn
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:38amIf she has down syndrome she can’t make those kinds of logics decisions. All the reports are stating she has some sort of a mental deficiency which means she doesn’t understand what she did, if she did it at all. So no she didn‘t do it to show people how stupid the law is because she can’t have that sort of thought process.
Report Post »americansfightingforcommonsense
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 7:16amLet this girl go! This a law that should be swept off the books and has NO place in a CIVILIZED world!
Report Post »JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 7:29amHmm… Civilized and the middle east, hmm… those two things do not and never did go together.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 8:17am“Hmm… Civilized and the middle east, hmm… those two things do not and never did go together.”
Perhaps they’re uncivilized compared to modern society, but as the Middle East is the “Cradle of Civilization,“ your use of ”never” is quite incorrect.
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 10:59amInstead of “never” it maybe should be never since the pedophile demon “prophet” founded the cult of death.
Report Post »PaxInVeritate
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 1:55pmSo those that fallow Judaism and Eastern Christian Rites in that region have been, and are currently “uncivilized”?
Report Post »amazingphotos
Posted on August 28, 2012 at 2:26pmOf course the Jews and Eastern Orthodox people struggling to survive in the Middle East are not “uncivilized.” They are islands of sanity threatened with drowning in a sea of islimeic thugs. The “nations” where they are constantly threatened are most certainly “uncivilized.”
Report Post »