 Rimsha Masih has been accused of desecrating the Qur’an Photo: Muhammad Ghouri, Flickr |
Rimsha Masih, a Christian Pakistani teenager who was accused of desecrating the Qur'an, has been in prison for two and a half weeks. After several delays, the high profile blasphemy case is now scheduled for September 7. Rimsha is believed to have Down's Syndrome and is deemed to be 14 years old (for more information, click here).
A witness has testified that the leader of his mosque, Khalid Jadoon Chishti, had falsified evidence to implicate Rimsha. He claimed that Chishti had added pages of the Qur'an to a bag of burned rubbish used as evidence against her to strengthen the basis for the blasphemy accusation, and that he had instigated both the complainant's charge and the mob aggression that followed.
On September 2, Chishti was himself charged with blasphemy under section 295B of the Pakistan Penal Code, and is currently in police custody. It is further alleged that he and others from Rimsha's neighbourhood on the outskirts of Islamabad have been promoting anti-Christian sentiment in recent months.
Please pray the Lord will protect Rimsha and her family. Pray for a favourable outcome on September 7. Pray that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Ask the Lord to use this case to promote religious freedom for all in Pakistan. Pray that Christians in Pakistan will be the light that draws their neighbours to Jesus (Matthew 5:14-16).
For more on the opposition the Church faces in Pakistan, please visit the Pakistan Country Report.
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