Material that was planted in the girl's possession

The blasphemy case against 14-year-old Rimsha Masih has finally been dropped. She was originally accused of burning pages from the Koran, though it later transpired that the burnt pages were stuffed into the poor girl's bag by a local imam as part of a concerted effort to stoke up anti-Christian hatred. 

Rimsha, who doctors said had a younger mental age than her 14 years, was arrested in August in a Christian area of the capital, Islamabad, after a furious crowd demanded she be punished.

Following an outcry over the case, she was released on bail in September - an extremely rare move in blasphemy cases.

At Tuesday's hearing, all charges against her were thrown out by the Islamabad High Court for lack of evidence, lawyers said.

The judges had concluded the charges were "based on heresy and incriminated material that was planted in the girl's possession", said Abdul Hameed for the defence, the Associated Press reports.

Prosecutors have the right to appeal in the Supreme Court.

The case against the Muslim cleric accused of framing her will proceed, say local police. He will be tried for making a false accusation.

There has been no word yet from Rimsha and her family, who remain in hiding, at an undisclosed location, the BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad says....

In Rimsha's neighbourhood, her Muslim neighbours were reluctant to speak on camera about her case. One man leaving afternoon prayers said the judgement was wrong. Others said they would accept the verdict.

Another Muslim man said: "We saw what happened. We know she's guilty but the court has let her off."

Members of the local Christian community told our correspondent the area was still tense and they were fearful. One man said that anyone speaking out in Rimsha's favour would get threats from Muslim neighbours. Another said they were still unable to hold mass in their local church.

Unfortunately this is by no means the end of the affair for Rimsha and her family. Since 1990 no one has been executed under Pakistan's blasphemy law, but an estimated 52 people who've been charged have later been killed, as the mob take the law into their own hands. 

Comments

[Dom]

"He will be tried for making a false accusation."

He should be tried for blasphemy too, since he burnt the pages himself.