Police state that Rimsha is innocent
In hiding: Rimsha Masih is escorted towards a helicopter, after
her release from prison earlier this month
Credit: AP
In hiding: Rimsha Masih is escorted towards a helicopter, after
her release from prison earlier this month
POLICE in Pakistan have submitted an interim charge sheet to the
court in the case of Rimsha Masih, the young girl accused of
desecrating the Qur'an (News,
7,
14,
21 September), and have concluded that she is innocent of the
charges.
The charge sheet, lodged with the court on Saturday, suggests
that Mohammed Khalid Chishti, the local imam, is guilty of burning
pages of the Norani Qaida, a Qur'an study guide, and
placing the pages in Rimsha's bag in an attempt to stir
anti-Christian feeling in a district of Mehrabadi, Islamabad.
The police officer who compiled the report, investigator Munir
Jaffery, said: "Our investigation shows nothing implicating Rimsha,
but there is substantive proof that the imam tempered with evidence
to incriminate the Christian girl."
Rimsha is currently on bail and living in hiding with her
parents. She is still awaiting the court's verdict, but there is a
"presumption of truth" with police statements. The Court is sitting
again today, Monday, to decide whether the imam should face
sanction. Desecrating the Qur'an carries the death penalty in
Pakistan.