A young Christian girl arrested on blasphemy charges appears to have a mental age below her true age and to be “uneducated”, according to a medical report seen Tuesday by AFP. The girl, Rimsha, was held on August 16 under the country’s strict blasphemy laws, which prohibit defaming Islam and desecrating the Holy Quran, after neighbors accused her of burning papers containing verses from the Muslim holy book.
She reportedly suffers from Down’s Syndrome, a condition which causes various degrees of learning difficulties, though the local cleric who handed her over to police insisted on Friday that she was fully aware of what she was doing.
A panel of doctors examined Rimsha on Monday to determine her age, which had been the subject of some dispute. The medics’ report said that based on factors including her height, build and teeth, Rimsha’s appeared to be “approximately 14 years”, and gave details of her apparent mental abilities. “She appears uneducated and her mental age appears below her chronological age,” the single-page report said. The case has prompted concern from Western governments and the Vatican — which said at the weekend she was illiterate — and anger from rights groups, who have complained that blasphemy laws are often abused to settle personal scores.