Rimsha’s accuser cleric sent on 14-day remand

The blasphemy case against a 14-year-old Christain girl took an important turn when the accusing cleric, Khalid Judoon, was sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand on Sunday.
The cleric was on Saturday accused of tampering with the evidence against Christian girl Rimsha to exacerbate the situation. Jadoon, a prayer leader of a mosque in Mehra Jaffar where Rimsha allegedly burnt pages of a Noorani Qaida, is accused of putting two pages of the Holy Quran with the brunt pages of Qaida to make a strong case of blasphemy against the 14-year-old girl.
However, three of Jadoon’s colleagues exposed him the other day by recording statements before a magistrate, disclosing that the cleric added two pages of Holy Quran to the burnt pages of Noorani Qaida, which were allegedly burnt by Rimsha. The Imam was arrested on Saturday night. He was brought before Judicial Magistrate Nasrun Minallah on Sunday amid tight security and was sent to prison for 14 days. Police submitted an application to the court requesting for the remand, but the court sent the accused in jail with direction to police to present the accused in court on September 16.
Police sources said Khalid Jadoon was biased against Christian families living in Mehra Jaffar and had tried to instigate the people against the community through his hate speeches in the past as well.
They said the cleric wanted Christians to leave the area.
The other day, three witnesses of the case, Hafiz Muhammad Zubair and two others disclosed before the executive magistrate that Khalid Jadoon added two pages of the Holy Quran to the burnt pages of the Qaida. They added that they tried to stop the cleric, requesting him not to tamper with the evidence, but he ignored their advice. Police then registered an FIR against the cleric for tampering the record and trying to influence the situation. However, Jadoon denied the allegations during the proceeding, saying the administration was hatching a conspiracy against him.
An additional sessions judge is due to hear the bail plea of Rimsha today (Monday). The minor girl was arrested for allegedly burning pages of a Noorani Qaida in Mehra Jaffar, an area in Sector G-12, Islamabad.
Ramna police had registered a case against Rimsha under the blasphemy law on August 16 and sent her to jail. Rao Abdur Raheem, lawyer for Rimsha’s accuser, said the development was intended to “spoil” his case and he accused authorities of interfering.
“They are pressurising the complainants and witnesses to facilitate the bail of Rimsha,” he told the court.
“They are making threats on behalf of the people sitting in the President’s House.” A medical report had said Rimsha appeared to be around 14 years old, but had a mental age below her true age.
The court is yet to decide whether to accept the assessment.