Pakistan postpones hearing for teenage Christian girl jailed for alleged blasphemy

A Christian Pakistani girl, covered in a white cloth, is ushered into a police vehicle in Islamabad to go for a medical examination after being charged with blasphemy, Aug. 27, 2012.

/ CBS

(CBS News) ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani judge postponed Tuesday a bail hearing for a Christian girl jailed on charges that she desecrated the Muslim holy book after an official medical review concluded that she is only 14-years-old and likely suffers from some mental disability that makes her less well developed than others of her age, the girl's lawyer tells CBS News.

Tahir Naveed Chaudhary, a Christian politician and the lawyer representing the girl's family, tells CBS News the bail hearing was postponed until Thursday so the court could fully consider the new evidence.

"The medical evidence has concluded that her mental age is below her chronological age, and the doctors also believe she is 14 years of age," said Chaudhary. "Our contention is, she is a child and as a minor cannot be prosecuted on the grounds that have been presented in the blasphemy case," added Chaudhary, saying he will seek to have the case dismissed.

Her parents have claimed through a local priest that she suffers from Down's syndrome, though that claim has not been confirmed by medical examinations thus far.

The girl's status as a minor will see the case shifted to Pakistan's juvenile court system, but her fate remains unclear, and the case continues to highlight to the world the intimidation minority Christians can suffer as Muslim extremists influence the country's courts and law enforcement.

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The divide between Pakistan's Muslims and the Christian minority - who represent only about 2 percent of the population - can now be seen clearly in the girl's neighborhood in suburban Islamabad.

Mukhtar Khan, a Muslim neighbor of an arrested Christian girl, shows the lock on her abandoned house and vows her family will never be allowed to return to the neighborhood in Islamabad, Aug. 20, 2012.

/ AP

"Homes with a padlock on their front doors are likely to be homes of Christians," a Pakistani Christian priest who has regularly monitored conditions in the neighborhood - which was home to about 300 Christian families prior to this case - tells CBS News. "A number of people have fled and they are still in hiding. They fear for their lives."

The girl's detention has prompted an outcry from human rights groups, which point to her case as just the latest example of Pakistan's Christians being targeted by hardline Islamic groups which they say wield overwhelming influence over the government.

The case began when one of the teenager's neighbors allegedly spotted her dumping burned pages inscribed with Islamic verses from the Koran on a garbage dump about 100 yards from her home.

Malik Amjad, the landlord who owns the girl's family home, tells CBS News a teenaged Muslim girl from the neighborhood rushed to the local mosque after the accused girl was spotted - by another neighbor - dumping the Islamic text, and alerted people gathered for daily prayers.

"She yelled to her fellow Muslims, 'the Koran is being desecrated. Come and save our religion,'" says Amjad, citing the neighbor. "Suddenly there was a large crowd of protesters and they were all demanding immediate action."

Police were reportedly reluctant at first, but under pressure from the angry crowd which had gathered outside her home, they arrested the young woman on charges of blasphemy - an offense technically punishable by death under Pakistan's law, though no one has ever been executed for the crime.

While Pakistan's government appears keen to resolve the case without an embarrassing trial, likely by way of bail being granted, critics say there has already been a miscarriage of justice, and the chilling effect on Pakistan's Christians is evident.

Under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, a senior police officer is required to give clearance before the police can register a case of blasphemy. In the girl's case, however, a junior police officer registered the arrest. A senior police officer in Islamabad told CBS News on condition of anonymity that the decision to register her case was taken largely to diffuse the tension in the neighborhood.

"This was important to protect the victim herself," he told CBS News. "If we would not have registered the case, I am certain an angry mob would have attacked and burned the police station."

Edited by CBSNews.com foreign editor Tucker Reals.

[j1mrock]

Religion is not the problem. Religious idiots are the problem. If you don't think christians are capable of the same thing, research the Church of England and what they did to blasphemers. (Also many of the other so-called civilized countries) It's one of the reasons our founding fathers kept religion out of our government. Hopefully one day these people will learn to seperate the two. And we won't forget to.

[yvasilva]

Really revolting!
President! Somebody!!! save this child from this animals!!!!!!
Where are the Human rights now??
What she burnt was a book nothing but paper printed by men!! How stupid, fanatic religious people can be? Where in 2012, wake up!!!!
It's not only a human life but a child!!!!!!

[TitBits]

It is ironic that Muslims are being courted by the ....... Don't know what to say...... Democrats. Not one American Muslim nor anyone in the democratic party has condemmed the death sentence of a child - a girl with dmentia who is a christian and accidently tore a page of the Koran.... Those same idiots built a mosque in Tennessee and in downtown Manhattan... Is the democratic party no different than the muslim brotherhood or any nation like saudi...Why not condemn this oppression...

[AttyFAM]

From the article: "She yelled to her fellow Muslims, 'the Koran is being desecrated. Come and save our religion,'" says Amjad, citing the neighbor. "Suddenly there was a large crowd of protesters and they were all demanding immediate action."
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The idea that the religion itself was at stake raises the question of just how frail their faith really is. How exactly does disposal of a copy of the Qu'ran destroy Islam? What personality or disposition does it place upon the character of Allah that in the 21st century, when the reproduction of books is no longer a task of years' worth of work, that such a divinity demands blood for that act? What does such a fraught response from the believers indicate about their own character that blood is sought from another? Why is this religion so filled with fear and hatred?

[judymar3]

I can't understand why we call ourselves allies with this barbarian county, except for the fact the have nuclear power. The greatest Western countries of the world are held hostage by people living in the 13th century.

[I_am_3rd]

'the Koran is being desecrated. Come and save our religion,'

If this is the case, it is too late for your religion.

[I_am_3rd]

"the intimidation minority Christians can suffer as Muslim extremists influence the country's courts and law enforcement."

Let's change that to ARE the country's courts, as is the case when you have blasphemy laws.

[saucymugwump]

And when these ignorant, superstitious religious nuts move to a civilized country, they bring their wacky, violent belief system with them. Close the border to any more Muslims.

[vielmann]

And then keep them from having the benefit of learning Christianity?

[saucymugwump]

vielmann wrote: "And then keep them from having the benefit of learning Christianity?"

This comment is simply bizarre. No, Muslims most definitely do not learn any new religion, especially Christianity. On the contrary, upon moving to the West, they demand that the locals "respect" their medieval sect. Islam is a cancer on the world and we need to keep it from metastasizing.

[SusanStoHelit]

Disgusting group of people in that neighborhood - this isn't about religion nor blasphemy - it's about expelling the minority from 'their' neighborhood. Religion is just a pretext. Wouldn't it be nice to build a nice modern neighborhood with all the amenities that persecuted families (for any reason) only can move into? Leave the violent bigots alone in their neighborhood.

I'm sure the girl crying "Save our religion" is the same as the white guy some time back claiming a black kid in the neighborhood was looking at his daughter, and crying "Save our children" to rile up a lynch mob. Same lynch mob, same mentality, just a different mechanism used.

[vielmann]

Yeah, it's a definite set-up. Poor girl. Shameless and worthless religious folk who would take advantage of her to make themselves big in their community.

[saucymugwump]

SusanStoHelit wrote: "this isn't about religion nor blasphemy"

Nonsense, that's what it is all about. You really need to get out more and experience the world as it actually is. Below is a URL for a website at which you can read stories every single day regarding how Muslims kill and/or discriminate against all other religions. Don't bother reading the comments, just read the actual articles.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/

[Chrisbr1111]

That any grown adult would even believe there is some dude in the sky is hard enough to fathom. It's harder still to believe that adults actually fight over such silliness, but to actually punish and kill over religion is ludicrous. Reminds me of little 5 year old children, my god is better than your god, nanananaa.

[Kinz1510]

There is not a dude in the sky. I think you are confusing Santa Claus with God. God in heaven is beyond all understanding. So get the Sky Daddy picture out of your head. You can't wrap your head around something you can not understanding. I envision God as a some form of energy.

[otter2]

I agree. nanabooboo