Pakistani Court rejects Rimsha’s bail plea

Rejecting the bail plea of blasphemy accused Christian girl Rimsha, a Sessions court on Tuesday sought the medical board’s report on the next hearing to ascertain the age of the accused. The court fixed the next hearing for August 30. Sessions Judge Raja Jawad Hassan Abbas resumed the hearing of the case, during which Rimsha’s counsel Tahir Naveed argued that since his client was a juvenile, her case be transferred to a Juvenile Court, and she be granted bail. In his arguments, the lawyer argued that was 14 years old, and under Section 7 of the Juvenile Justice Ordinance, she was not an adult. He presented the findings of a medical board constituted by a district magistrate. He told the court that according to the findings of the medical board, Rimsha was 14. After hearing the lawyer’s arguments, the judge told him that if his client was aging between 13 to 14 years, he should file a fresh application, requesting the court to order district magistrate for constituting a medical board to ascertain the age of the accused. The judge said that the previous medical board had been constituted by the order of the additional district magistrate, and not by the court. Complying with the court’s instructions, the counsel filed a fresh application and stated that as per the petitioner’s birth certificate, which had been issued by the authority concerned, the age of Rimsha was 14 years. “It is necessary in the interest of justice, that a medical board be appointed to determine the age of the petitioner,” the lawyer stated in his application. The court accepted the application and directed the district magistrate to constitute a medical board and present its findings on the next date of hearing. Rimsha, who is currently in jail, was arrested for allegedly burning pages of a Noorani Qaeda at Maira Jaffar G-12, Islamabad. On August 16, Ramna Police registered an FIR (First Information Report) against her under blasphemy law, Section 295-B of Pakistan Penal Code. Strict security arrangements had been made at the district court on Tuesday to avoid any untoward incident. A large number of people were present in the court during the hearing. Meanwhile, in an open letter, Rimsha’s father Misrek Masih appealed to President Asif Zardari to pardon his daughter and prevent other people from being persecuted under the harsh laws “like my daughter”. Misrek said an angry crowd had threatened to “burn her alive.” “She has Down’s syndrome and often isn’t in control of her actions, but she is charged with desecrating the Quran, and we are afraid for her life. ”I’m asking President Asif Ali Zardari, who has already called for further attention into my daughter’s case, to pardon her and to prevent other people from being persecuted under these harsh laws like my daughter,” he said. ”We are a Christian family, we respect the religious rights of others. We simply wish for the safety of our daughter and our community and wish this had never happened,” he added.