Pakistan girl fears life in blasphemy case

PAKISTAN: Christian family and their daughter, who was bailed after spending three weeks in a Pakistan jail on blasphemy charges, fear for their lives despite government promises to protect them, media reports said.

Rimsha Masih was arrested on August 16 for allegedly setting fire to papers that contained Koranic verses in an impoverished neighbourhood of Islamabad.

Her plight attracted an international outcry because she is underage, illiterate and said to suffer from learning difficulties.

“I'm scared” CNN quoted her as saying on Tuesday by telephone, from a secret hiding place with her family. “I'm afraid of anyone who might kill us.” But she said she would never leave the country. “I love Pakistan,” said Rimsha, who is thought to be 14.

According to CNN, she often answered just “yes” or “no” in a shy and nervous voice, and firmly denied she had burnt pages of Koran.

She said she was falsely accused, but would not answer questions about what exactly happened on August 16.

Blasphemy is hugely sensitive in Pakistan, where 97 percent of the population are Muslims, and allegations of insulting Islam or the prophet Mohammed prompt fury.

Insulting the prophet Mohammed is punishable by death and burning a sacred text by life imprisonment. Two politicians who spoke out on the matter were killed last year.

AFP