Pakistan: Eight-year-old Christian boy, mother released after blasphemy arrests

By AT/TOA | The Times of Ahmad

An eight-year-old Christian boy and his mother have beens freed after blasphemy charges were leveled against the pair in Quetta Pakistan.

The boy, Izhan and his mother, Shakil, a nurse, were both accused of burning pages of the Quran in the city of Quetta last week, according to news website PremierĀ (premier.org.uk).

While jailed both Christian and Muslim politicians campaigned for their release, Premier further reported.

The matter was resolved one day later with the blasphemy accusations quashed.

This is not the first time that a child was charged with a blasphemy offence and that this boy, according to Christian rights activists, “may have never have even heard of the word blasphemy”.

A boy aged 12 was charged for blasphemy in 1993, a crime it was later determined he had not committed. Similarly, in 2011, a 13-year-old Christian girl was accused of blasphemy by her Muslim teacher for misspelling.

“Unfortunately, this is the worst example of hatred and intolerance against Christians and treatment towards them in Pakistan,” said a minority rights activist, Nasir Saeed, according to various press statement.

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– Pakistan: Eight-year-old Christian boy, mother released after blasphemy arrests