Fit of anger: Blasphemy accused denied bail

LAHORE:

An additional district and sessions judge on Friday dismissed the post-arrest bail application of a man accused of setting material inscribed with Quranic verses ablaze.

Mazhar Azeem, the accused, told the court that no tangible progress had been witnessed in his trial despite the passage of nine months. He said the prosecution had been stalling his trial.  When police had arrived at the spot where the incident was alleged to have taken place, Azeem said, the blaze had been put out. He said there was no legal provision under which he could be denied bail. Azeem said no eyewitness of the alleged incident had been produced. The accused said he could not be tried under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The complainant’s counsel Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry told the court that there was plenty of incriminating evidence available in connection with the case. He said it was ample to demonstrate his involvement in the alleged incident.

According to details, an incensed Azeem had gone to a mosque following a scuffle with his father. He is alleged to have broken a cupboard there. The accused then allegedly retrieved some material inscribed with Quranic verses and set it ablaze.

Police had arrested the accused in connection with the incident. Azeem was said to have told police after being arrested that he had committed the act in a fit of anger.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2016.