A Christian and a Muslim accused of blasphemy in a school in Pakistan
"We very much hope that the court will allow Musarrat's bail and also consider dropping the serious charge against her, as there was clearly no intent to commit any form of blasphemy."
Mussarat Bibi and Muhammad Sarmad all work at an upper secondary school for girls in the Punjab province of Pakistan. She's a Christian, he's a Muslim, and both have just been charged with blasphemy.
“The two workers were ordered to clean up the store which was filled with paper and other discarded items,” explains Javed Sahotra, their lawyer, “it was alleged that they picked up the wasted paper and d other trash in a corner of the school and set it on fire. Some students later noticed that the burnt items also contained holy pages."
The school staff and the principal claim that this is not an intentional act, since neither can read.
On April 19, Kashif Nadeem informed the police of what he believed to be blasphemy, only incriminating Musarrat Bibi. Then "the complainant also gathered a crowd outside the school and began to protest against the incident", then explains the lawyer.
"It is regrettable that despite the fact that the two workers were illiterate and did not intentionally commit the act, the police still arrested them and charged them with blasphemy," said the Christian's lawyer, Lazar. Allah Rakha.
"We very much hope that the court will allow Musarrat's bail and also consider dropping the serious charge against her, as there was clearly no intent to commit any form of blasphemy."
MC
source: Morning Star News
