Two Christian sisters have been granted rare bail only weeks after they were arrested on blasphemy charges.
Judge Waseem Mubarak of the Toba Tek Singh Sessions Court in Faisalabad, Punjab province, ordered their acquittal after reviewing evidence supplied by the district police officer.
Saima Masih and her younger sister Sonia Faryiad were arrested in their home village of Kathore in the Gojra area of Toba Tek Singh district in early August after a neighbour accused them of desecrating the Quran. They have repeatedly denied the allegation.
Saima was the first to be granted bail (on 10 September – she was released next day) but for security reasons news of her bail and release was only reported recently. Nasir Saeed of CLAAS commented, “This might be the first-ever case in history where a blasphemy victim was released in just over a month.”
Arrest
On 6 August Saima’s Muslim neighbour Muhammad Haider claimed he saw her putting rubbish into a bag and disposing of it and said that when he looked into the bag he found ruined pages of the Quran. The next day he went with two other Muslims to Saima’s home to investigate the situation, and they accused her and Sonia of blasphemy.
News quickly spread when a local Islamic leader announced the accusation over mosque loudspeakers. An angry mob of over two hundred Muslims blocked the main road in protest, demanding Saima’s execution and threatening to burn down her house – the family’s lawyer said she would have been lynched had police not arrived in time to rescue her. The mob also reportedly attacked other local Christians in Kathore, which has between thirty and 35 Christian families, forcing them to flee their homes and hide in the fields.
Police took Saima to the police station on 7 August, arrested her and charged her with blasphemy for desecrating the Quran under Section 295-B of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Later that day they arrested and charged Sonia.
“The police saved Saima’s life but registered a blasphemy case against her under the pressure of the mob, which is very unfair,” lawyer Akmal Bhatti, chairman of the Minorities Alliance Pakistan, told Christian Daily International–Morning Star News.
He and the sisters’ lawyer Chaudhry Haneef Hameed Mithu say they believe the accusation was made to settle a personal grudge. The street where the sisters lived housed only two Christian families, with the rest of the homes belonging to Muslims, a large number of whom are reportedly hostile to the presence of Christians.
Convinced of the sisters’ innocence, their lawyer filed a petition in the Lahore High Court to quash the charges against them. He told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that there are several inconsistencies in the case, including the delayed filing of the First Information Report and the absence of direct witnesses.
Lives at a standstill
Before the sisters’ arrest Saima was a health worker on a polio vaccination team (since her arrest she has lost her job) and also sold clothes to provide for her two children. Her husband, a banker, died in a car accident and her parents are also dead. Sonia worked as a teacher and has three children. The sisters and their families are staying at an undisclosed location, living in fear of mob violence, and are receiving support from Christian organisations.
Nasir Saeed commented, “They may never return to living a normal life. Sonia and Saima will likely never be able to go back to their homes.”
Sajid Christopher of the Human Friends Organisation told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News that both women and their families have endured immense hardships, including wrongful accusations, death threats and prolonged legal battles, all of which have brought their lives to a standstill. He warned that “societal pressures and the possibility of vigilantism pose ongoing threats” and added, “Such accusations often lead to the accused being ostracised, regardless of their legal outcome, which means her life and that of her children remain under constant risk… We call upon the authorities to ensure that both Saima and Sonia, as well as their families, are provided with adequate protection and that their safety is guaranteed.”
(Barnabas Aid, Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, CLAAS/Edge Foundation, International Christian Concern)