A PAKISTAN CLERIC who accused a Christian girl of blasphemy was remanded in custody on Sunday after police arrested him on suspicion of evidence-tampering and desecrating the Quran.

The girl, Rimsha, has been held in prison since she was arrested in the poor Islamabad suburb of Mehrabad more than two weeks ago accused of burning papers containing verses from the Quran, in breach of Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws.

Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, the imam of the mosque in Rimsha’s area who first handed over evidence, was arrested on Saturday after his assistants said he had added pages from the Quran to the burnt papers to strengthen the case against the girl.

Tampering with evidence

“The imam was arrested after his deputy Maulvi Zubair and two others told a magistrate he added pages from the Quran to the burnt pages brought to him by a witness,” police investigator Munir Hussain Jaffri said.

Zubair and the two others, Mohammad Shahzad and Awais Ahmed, said they had urged Chishti not to interfere with the papers, Jaffri said.

“They protested that he should not add something to the evidence and he should give the evidence to the police as he got it and should not do this,” Jaffri said.

“But they said Chishti said, ‘You know this is the only way to expel the Christians from this area.’”

On August 24 Chishti told AFP he thought Rimsha had burned the pages deliberately as part of a Christian “conspiracy” to insult Muslims, and said action should have been taken sooner to stop what he called their “anti-Islam activities” in Mehrabad.

Blasphemy

Jaffri said the cleric was arrested at his home on Saturday under the blasphemy law.

“By putting these pages in the ashes he also committed desecration of the Holy Quran and he is being charged with blasphemy,” he said.

Chishti, who arrived at court on Sunday blindfolded and handcuffed and guarded by armed police commandos, was remanded in custody for 14 days and will be held at the same jail as Rimsha.

Speaking to reporters, Chishti said the allegations against him were “concocted”.

Rao Abdur Raheem, the lawyer for Rimsha’s accuser, her neighbour Hammad Malik, said the development was intended to “spoil” his case and he accused the authorities of interfering.

“They are pressurising the complainants and witnesses to facilitate the bail of Rimsha,” he told the court.

“They are making threats on behalf of the people sitting in the president’s house.”

Mental age

A medical report earlier this week said Rimsha appeared to be around 14 years old, which would make her a minor, and had a mental age below her true age, but the court has yet to decide whether to accept the assessment.

Some reports have said Rimsha has Down’s Syndrome and her case has prompted concern from Western governments and anger from rights groups, who warn the blasphemy legislation is often abused to settle personal vendettas.

She is being held in a high-security jail in Islamabad’s twin city Rawalpindi and on Friday a judge extended her remand for another two weeks.

Blasphemy is a very sensitive subject in the Pakistan, where 97 per cent of the 180 million population are Muslims, and allegations of insulting Islam or the Prophet Mohammed often prompt a furious public reaction.

- © AFP, 2012