![]() ![]() Pakistan has seen an increase in violence in the name of religion, he said. “The allegation itself is nothing short of a death warrant, and we continue to pray for their safety.” ![]() “It’s unfortunate that police arrested and charged both the accused with blasphemy despite confirming that they were illiterate and had not committed the act intentionally,” Marshall told Morning Star News. In spite of repeated demands for the government to introduce deterrents, he said, officials have failed to stop the misuse of the blasphemy laws. She also ran a small store in the school to supplement her income.Īnglican Church of Pakistan Bishop Azad Marshall said the case shows how blasphemy allegations are misused to victimize vulnerable citizens. Bibi’s husband, Barkat Masih, had worked as a teacher in the same school, and after his death five years ago, the institution hired her as an office worker in accordance with government service rules. Section 295-B states, “Whoever willfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Koran or of an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.”īibi has three daughters, two married, while the youngest is 14 and lives with her mother. They were charged under Section 295-B of the blasphemy statutes and sent to Pakpattan Jail on judicial remand. Nadeem gathered a mob outside the school that staged a protest, and police arrested Bibi and Sarmad to avoid unrest, he said. Nadeem named only Bibi, but police found the gardener was also involved in setting the pages on fire during investigation, Sahotra said. Follow days later, on April 19, local Muslim Kashif Nadeem called a police helpline and accused the Christian woman of committing blasphemy by burning koranic pages at the school.The principal and others also tried to pacify protests by some teachers and students. School staff members, including principal Nasreen Saeed, were aware that Bibi and Sarmad had not burned koranic pages intentionally, said attorney Javed Sahotra, who is also representing Bibi. Some students later noticed that the burned items also contained pages with koranic verses. The two workers allegedly gathered the wastepaper and other scrap in a corner of the school and set them on fire. Intent must be proven for a blasphemy conviction in Pakistan.īibi, 45, and Sarmad on April 15 were told to clean the storeroom at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in 66-EB village, Arifwala tehsil of Pakpattan District, which was filled with paper and other scrap items. “Moreover, both accused had no intention of burning the koranic pages.”īibi and Sarmad are illiterate and were only carrying out orders of the school administration to clean the storeroom of the school where she worked as an office worker and Sarmad as a gardener, the attorney said. “The court accepted my arguments that there was a four-day delay in the registration of the First Information Report against Musarrat Bibi and Muhammad Sarmad,” Rakha told Morning Star News. ![]()
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