Rimsha Masih blasphemy case

Rimsha Masih (Urdu: رمشا مسیح — some early reports used the first name "Rifta" or "Riftah") is a Pakistani girl [1] from Islamabad,[2] who was arrested by the Pakistani police on blasphemy charges in August 2012 when she was 14 years old.[3] The alleged charges included desecrating pages of the Quran (or a book containing verses from the Quran) by burning[4][5]—a crime punishable by death under Pakistan's blasphemy law.[6] She is a member of Pakistan's Christian minority.[6]

Two weeks after her arrest, the local imam who had reported her to police was arrested on suspicion of planting pages of religious texts in Rimsha's bag.[7][8][9] Rimsha was eventually acquitted of all charges.[10] In mid 2013 after months of hiding, Rimsha and her family were able to escape to Canada.[11]

  1. ^ Editorial (2012-09-25). "Rimsha's plight". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  2. ^ Shah, Saeed (2012-08-30). "Pakistan blasphemy case: 'Muslims could take law into their own hands'". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Pakistani 'blasphemy' girl in Canada". June 29, 2013 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian2012-08-22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ AFP (August 26, 2012). "Blasphemy suspect: Vatican prelate says Rimsha can't read". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  6. ^ a b Katie Hunt and Nasir Habib (2012-08-22). "Girl held in Pakistan, accused of burning Quran pages". CNN. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference framed-boone was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference imam-held-ph was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference itv-imam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Rimsha Masih vs. Station House Officer, Police Station Ramna, PLD 2013 Islamabad 1; "Pakistan Court Dismisses Blasphemy Case Against Christian Girl". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 20 Nov 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  11. ^ "Rimsha Masih, Pakistani girl accused of blasphemy, finds refuge in Canada". The Guardian. Associated Press in Ottawa. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2014.